Rublev faces Nadal in quarters
RUSSIAN teenager Andrey Rublev knocked out Belgian ninth seed David Goffin to set up a US Open quarter-final with Rafael Nadal.
Rublev (19) won 7-5 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 to become the youngest man to reach the last eight at Flushing Meadows since Andy Roddick in 2001.
Nadal (31), saw off Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-2 6-4 6-1 in just one hour and 41 minutes.
The Spaniard returns to the last eight for the first time in four years.
He will face one of the sport’s rising stars in Rublev, who only broke into the top 100 in June and the top 50 in July.
The Russian, now ranked 53rd after peaking at 49th last month, had beaten seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov in the second round.
He saw off Goffin in two hours and five minutes, with the Belgian hampered by a knee injury.
“I’m a little bit lucky to be in the quarter-final, but of course I’m enjoying it, and I will try to do my best in the next match,” said Rublev.
“Rafa is the real champion and I’m just going to try to enjoy it — this is the quarter-final and I have nothing to lose.”
Dolgopolov, ranked 64th, had won two of his previous three matches against Nadal, but rarely threatened in New York.
The Spaniard fired 11 forehand winners off his dominant side, while Dolgopolov made 39 errors as his game grew increasingly wayward.
A double fault and a forehand error gave up the first break of serve in game three and Nadal came through the only testing moment by saving two break points in game six.
A brilliant backhand crosscourt winner gave the Spaniard a double break, and soon after the set, before Dolgopolov’s hopes effectively ended midway though the second set.
Two errors gave up the crucial break at 4-4 and Nadal rolled through nine of the last 10 games to complete a comfortable afternoon’s work.
“I think I played a solid match,” said Nadal, who won the second of his two titles here in 2013.
“Usually I play with not many mistakes, he can play amazing shots, but sometimes a little bit unpredictable, so I tried to remain focus on myself.” — BBC Sport.