Andrey Rublev jokes about iPhone weather prediction during Monte-Carlo SF rain delay
Despite being in the heat of battle, Andrey Rublev found time to joke about the iPhone's weather predictions during a rain delay in his Monte-Carlo Masters semifinal match against Taylor Fritz.
Rublev is up against Fritz to reach his second Monte-Carlo final, having already done so back in 2021. Fritz, on the other hand, is attempting to become only the sixth American in the Open Era to reach the Monte-Carlo title bout.
Both players got off to a good start, with Fritz winning the first set 7-5 and Rublev winning the second 6-1. Rain, however, briefly interrupted the engrossing match in the deciding set. When the rain delay occurred, the American was serving at 7-5, 1-6, 2-3.
During the break, Andrey Rublev was having a conversation with the umpire in which he jokingly asked if the iPhone shows weather changes, to which the umpire replied no and made some amusing remarks.
"The iPhone doesn't show (the weather)? At least after 6 no rain, or tomorrow no rain?" Rublev joked.
Check out the video here:
Andrey 😂☔️
@AndreyRublev97 #RolexMonteCarloMasters https://t.co/YAQO8v1QNt
"He's really tough player and it's really tough to beat him" - Andrey Rublev on Taylor Fritz
Andrey Rublev discussed playing against Taylor Fritz in a press conference prior to their match, saying that the American sometimes plays amazingly and sometimes makes mistakes. At the moment, Rublev admitted that Fritz looked like he was "not missing at all."
"He make now, last year and a half he make most of them, the balls. Before was 50/50. Sometimes he could play amazing match, sometimes he could do mistakes. Now looks like he's not missing at all," Rublev said.
The Russian then stated that Fritz is a very tough player to beat and that when he returns at full strength and returns well, his opponents will be in grave danger.
"I don't know. I will be not surprised because I know he's really tough player and it's really tough to beat him. Doesn't matter the surface, because he go there, serve 220, and he hit forehand, and then when he return he step in and he go full power," Rublev said.
"Doesn't matter the surface. It's tough. You know, when the guy return full power to you, you need couple of shots to start the rally, because if he returns well, you're in danger," he added shortly.
The winner of this match will face the winner of the match between Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner in Sunday's final.