WHAT HAPPENED: With the flurry of withdrawals before the US Open – Murray, Djokovic, Wawrinka – and Grigor Dimitrov sprinting through the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati for his first Masters 1000 title earlier this month, the pundits were fair to wonder: Would this be the year Dimitrov, who prefers fast, hard courts, makes a second-week run at the Open?
The 26-year-old from Bulgaria had reached the fourth round twice in New York, including last year. But 19-year-old Andrey Rublev had entirely different ideas on Thursday. Following the lead of 18-year-old Denis Shapovalov, who beat eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Wednesday, the red-hot Russian blasted forehands and controlled play against the seventh seed to earn his first Top 10 win, 7-5, 7-6, 6-3, in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The Moscow native advances to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. He was playing in only his third US Open match after falling in the first round in 2015. Rublev had started 0-3 against Top 10 players.
But the #NextGenATP Russian rose to the moment against Dimitrov with a simple game plan: Pick on the Bulgarian's backhand. Rublev started slow, falling behind 5-2 in the first set. But he roared back, bludgeoning forehand after forehand to win five consecutive games and take the first set. The Russian finished with 36 winners, including 23 from his forehand wing.
Dimitrov, who had won 13 consecutive sets, struggled to turn defense into offense. In the Cincinnati final, he had outplayed the big-hitting Nick Kyrgios by using his slice backhand and moving the Aussie from side to side. But the tactics couldn't slow down Rublev, who gained in confidence and took the second set after a shaky tiebreak from Dimitrov, who double faulted at 3-5 to give Rublev a set point.
For the match, Dimitrov was forced into 49 errors, compared to 35 for Rublev. The 6-foot-2 Russian broke in the fourth game of the final set to win in straights.
WHAT IT MEANS: Rublev's coming-out party on the tour continues at the season's final Grand Slam tournament. The right-hander has won 11 of his past 15 matches since the start of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle in June. The stretch also includes his first ATP World Tour title on clay in Umag, when he beat Paolo Lorenzi of Italy to win the ATP World Tour 250 tournament.
Now Rublev has a prime opportunity to stretch his best Grand Slam run into the fourth round. He will next face Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Potential fourth-round opponents include ninth seed David Goffin of Belgium or 18th seed Gael Monfils of France.
MATCH POINT: Rublev is one of a number of #NextGenATP Russians, including Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev, making waves on tour. Which one has the brightest future?
