MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. /TASS/. Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev was knocked out on Tuesday from the 2024 ATP Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell tournament suffering his fourth defeat in a row at matches of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
It took 1 hour 53 minutes for 22-year-old Brandon Nakashima from the United States to sink Russia’s 2nd-seed Rublev in straight sets 6-4; 7-6 (8-6).
"I’m still out here competing as hard as I can," the official ATP website quoted Nakashima as saying after his win over Rublev. "I’m happy with getting my level back to where it was. Playing in front of these crowds and on this court was super special."
"I served and returned well," Nakashima continued. "I got myself a lot of opportunities on his serve and also was controlling a lot with my backhand crosscourt to his backhand.
"I was also mixing it up with some slices and drop shots. I think that’s very important," the US tennis player added.
Unseeded Nakashima, who is currently 87th in the ATP World Rankings, will play in Round 3 against the winner of the match between Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Nick Hardt from the Dominican Republic.
Rublev, 26, is ranked 8th in the ATP World Rankings and has won 15 ATP tournament titles. He has also appeared in numerous Grand Slam tournaments, albeit never advancing beyond the quarterfinals. Rublev took home the gold at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in mixed doubles (with teammate Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova) and also won the 2021 Davis Cup as part of the Russian national team.
The 2024 ATP Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell tournament is played between April 15 and 21 on outdoor clay courts in Barcelona, Spain and offers $2.96 million in prize money.
Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.
On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.
However, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.