Andrey Rublev has made it through to the third round of the Canadian Open after a 6-2 6-3 victory over Hugo Gaston.
Rublev, now ranked 11 in the world, is looking to eclipse his marvellous run at last year’s Canadian Open. The Russian reached the final before losing to Alexei Popyrin.
This year, the tournament has seen various withdrawals occur. However, Rublev has shown up to defend the points he achieved at last year’s Canadian Open.
The tournament traditionally switches every season, between Montreal and Toronto. This season, the men’s tournament is taking place in Toronto, while the WTA players are competing in Montreal.
After defeating Gaston on Tuesday, Rublev discussed why he prefers playing in Montreal to Toronto.
Andrey Rublev says it is tough to control the ball in Toronto
Speaking to the Tennis Channel after beating Gaston, Rublev was candid when explaining why he prefers playing in Montreal to Toronto.
The Russian cited the ‘super fast’ courts in Toronto while noting the unpredictability of rally patterns.
Rublev said: “For me yes [he favours Montreal over Toronto]. For me, conditions are completely different. Montreal was opposite. The courts were quite like, not fast, not slow, but playable; let’s say playable, you play a lot of rallies. You need to run, you need to think, and on top of that, it was easier to control the ball.
Here, the courts are super fast and it’s super tough to control the ball. Like the ball flies everywhere. It’s super tough to hit in a rhythm. Looks like it’s altitude here but it’s not. But the ball flies sometimes a lot out of sense. Like you are doing the same thing and the ball flies five metres out.
“And happens to everyone. If you check the matches, if you check the practices, it’s really tough to control, to play in a rhythm for a while, even on practice when you’re hitting from the middle.
“It’s tough, everybody missing a lot but this is the conditions and they are for everyone.”
Andrey Rublev’s run to the 2024 Canadian Open final
Andrey Rublev registered an excellent run at the 2024 Canadian Open in Montreal.
Rublev, seeded fifth, was given a bye through to the round of 32. From there he beat Tomas Etcheverry and Brandon Nakashima without dropping a set.
In the quarter-finals, he faced top seed Jannik Sinner. However, this was not a problem for Rublev, who won in three sets against the Italian.
| 2024 Canadian Open Round | Opponent/Score |
| R32 | bt Tomas Etcheverry 7-6 6-2 |
| R16 | bt Brandon Nakashima 6-2 6-2 |
| Quarter-finals | bt Jannik Sinner 6-3 1-6 6-2 |
| Semi-finals | bt Matteo Arnaldi 6-4 6-2 |
| Final | lost to Alexei Popyrin 2-6 4-6 |
Rublev then beat another Italian, Matteo Arnaldi, in the semi-finals, before losing to Alexei Popyrin in the final.
Fast forward to 2025, and Rublev will face Lorenzo Sonego in the Canadian Open round of 32.
