After his fourth-round victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov, top seed Rafael Nadal was asked about facing the Russian teen Andrey Rublev, the youngest quarterfinalist at the US Open since Andy Roddick. In English, Nadal was circumspect about his opponent, who had earlier said he had "nothing to lose" going into the match. In Spanish afterward, Nadal was a bit more revealing.
"Of course he's young, but at the same time, he's in quarterfinals," Nadal said in English. "He has a chance to be in the semifinals for the first time of his career, and I have been there couple of times.
"So of course he has things to lose. And of course I have things to lose and things to win. But I tell you one thing, no, this sport is about victory. This is not about defeats. At the end of your career, nobody remember your defeats, your losses. People remember the victories. For everybody is everything to win, you know. And that's it.
"Of course he's young, and when you are young you feel that everything is new. But he already won a lot of matches on the tour. He's not a kid that he came now in this event. Of course not. He's on the tour for a while. He's playing well. He's a solid player on the tour.
"Of course I understand what he said, and he's a great guy. He have been in Mallorca practicing with me a couple of years ago. But overall, I have been here for a lot of years, and when you are young, sometimes you have this point of view, but at the end of the day, of course you have things to lose."
With the Spanish-language media, the Mallorcan was more forthcoming. He told an anecdote about Rublev's time at the Spaniard's academy in Manacor. Nadal made plain that he not only respects the Russian's abilities, but is wary of his power.
Nadal said he expected the match with with Rublev to be "very difficult."
"He is one of the best players in the world, or he will be," Nadal continued. "Rublev is an uncomfortable player for everyone," he added.
Nadal said that when he first became aware of the young Rublev, he immediately noted that the Russian "had a quality of shot very advanced for his age."
"This kid is going to kill it," Nadal recalled thinking.
Nadal said that "a few years ago" (2014, when Rublev was 17) the Russian spent a week training at Nadal's academy in Mallorca.
"I only remember one thing. It was winter, and unusually cold," he said. "We were training very early, at 9 a.m. I hit him the first ball to serve and he absolutely blistered it, so much so that I thought, 'This kid is going to kill it.'
"He was hitting the cover off every ball," said Nadal. "It was obvious he had something very special. He hit the ball very hard for someone his age."
Rublev, who last year moved to Barcelona to train, confessed that Nadal, along with Marat Safin, was his childhood idol. Rublev offered some comments about Nadal as well.
"I mean, I think he's so professional. He try to do everything perfect. That's why he's No. 1, one of the best guys in all the history," he said.
On YouTube there is video of Nadal and a 17-year-old Rublev training in Mallorca on an indoor court, as well as a brief snippet of them outdoors. On Wednesday, tennis fans will get to see a lot more of the duo, in Arthur Ashe Stadium in a US Open quarterfinal.
