The tennis tournament in Astana, which brought together a scattering of ATP tour stars, is coming to an end.

On Friday, October 7, quarter-final meetings were held there, in which three Russians took part.

The first to enter the battle was Andrei Rublev, who was opposed by the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.

Prior to this match, the score of their personal meetings was equal - 1: 1, and the previous time the Russian lost in a bitter struggle at last year's Kremlin Cup.

This season, the tournament in Moscow will not take place, but Andrei got even in full for that defeat.

In Astana, he gave the opponent only three games, finishing the match in 56 minutes.

Rublev made four aces in two sets, converted four of five break points and played one on his serve.

The Russian was very pleased with the revenge, as well as the fact that he adds during the tournament.

According to Andrei, in this and the previous meeting, he took the initiative into his own hands from the very beginning and led the game according to his own scenario.

“I am very glad that I played confidently in the last two matches, especially today, because the last time I lost to him.

Therefore, this victory was very important for me, ”the tennis player said at a press conference.

Rublev's next opponent will be Stefanos Tsitsipas, who defeated Hubert Hurkach.

The Greek, commenting on the upcoming meeting, noted that Andrey is one of the strongest players on the tour on indoor hard courts.

They have already met nine times, and the minimum advantage is on the side of Stefanos - 5:4.

“Given our experience, I will need to fully engage.

He plays very fast, but, like any other opponent, he has weaknesses that can be exploited, ”said the sixth racket of the world.

Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals got a much more formidable opponent - 21-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic.

So far, the Russian won the only victory over the Serb in the final of the Paris Masters in 2018.

After that, Karen could not take a single set from the titled opponent for a long time, until the tournament in Belgrade in April 2022 - where Djokovic won with a score of 4:6, 6:1, 6:2.

I could not oppose anything to the Serb Khachanov this time either.

The match for him began with the loss of his first serve.

After three games, the Russian was losing 0:3, and although he then managed to equalize the score, the set still remained with Djokovic - 6:4.

The catastrophically low percentage of Karen's first serve (54%) predetermined the outcome of the second game - 6:3 in favor of the Serb.

Honored coach of Russia Viktor Yanchuk called the result of the meeting natural.

According to him, the opponent is simply a more qualified, reliable and experienced player.

“Karen could hit the set, playing with inspiration and success ... But, apparently, he was worried somewhere.

Still played with a legendary player.

Not enough skill.

I wanted Khachanov to surprise me.

But Djokovic is not a whipping boy.

There are sensational victories: it would be nice if Karen had them too.

Let's hope that next time Khachanov will play with Djokovic more boldly, ”the Championship quotes the specialist.

In the semifinals, the Serb will meet with another representative of Russia, Daniil Medvedev.

According to Novak, it will be a "physical battle" based on ball control and attack preparation.

“We are both good defensively.

Daniil is a player who makes you run, especially when he plays on the left, he is good on the back line.

But it's a formula that has worked throughout my career as well.

I'm looking forward to very long draws.

I hope that the serve will work well, and, of course, I will not tactically reveal all the cards.

I will play in a way that will make him feel uncomfortable,” he said.

Medvedev also did not experience any problems in his quarterfinals, although he met with an extremely uncomfortable opponent for himself - Roberto Bautista-Agut.

Of the five face-to-face meetings before this, the ex-first racket of the world won only one against the Spaniard.

But this time there was no fight.

The match lasted only 64 minutes, and during this time the Russian gave only two games - 6:1, 6:1.

He showed an excellent first serve (72%), made six aces and converted six of 14 break points.

“I am happy to play the right game, be really consistent and do everything in my power to make life difficult for the opponent.

And I'm very happy to win.

Playing against Roberto is not easy.

I tried different approaches to surprise him a little, and it worked out great,” Medvedev said after the match.