Victoria Azarenka blown away by "pure-hearted" Andrey Rublev's fighting spirit in Australian Open 2023 R4
Andrey Rublev's heroics against Holger Rune in the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open on January 23 left the entire tennis world spellbound, including Victoria Azarenka.
The sixth-ranked Russian showed immense grit throughout the match, especially in the fifth set. He rallied from 2-5 and also saved a couple of match points to force a tiebreak.
The youngster from Denmark raced away with a 5-0 lead in the deciding set tiebreak. However, the fifth seed fought back and defeated Rune 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(9) in three hours and 37 minutes.
Although both players broke each other five times each, the closely-fought tiebreak made the difference in the end. While Rublev smashed 22 aces, 58 winners, and 37 unforced errors, the Dane hit eight aces, 44 winners, and 60 unforced errors.
Victoria Azarenka took to social media to join the rest of the world in congratulating Rublev for his extraordinary performance. The 24th-ranked Belarusian has herself made her way into the last eight and will face America's Jessica Pegula tomorrow. Azarenka lauded Rublev for his fighting spirit, calling him "pure-hearted."
"The nicest and pure hearted person @AndreyRublev97. Way to fight," Azarenka tweeted.
The nicest and pure hearted person @AndreyRublev97
Way to fight twitter.com/australianopen…
In his on-court interview, the Russian couldn't hold back his happiness, saying that he will remember the match for the rest of his life.
"I never in my life was able to win matches like this," he said. "This is the first-ever time that I won something like this, especially in a very special tournament, the Australian Open, to be in the quarter-finals. So it’s something I will remember for sure all my life. I have no words, I am shaking and happy.”
"Just fight for every ball" - Andrey Rublev on facing Novak Djokovic
This is the second time that Andrey Rublev has reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne and his seventh quarterfinal across all Grand Slam tournaments. He faces the biggest challenge up next as he will lock horns with nine-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic.
The Serb comfortably beat Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 in their fourth-round clash.
Djokovic leads 2-1 head-to-head against Rublev, who stated that he will "fight for every ball" for a chance against the 35-year-old.
"I know that Novak is a very tough player to beat, especially in the Slams," Andrey Rublev said. "He has, I don't know, the best experience to win these kinds of matches. He's one of the best in history. The only chance I have is if I play my best tennis, just fight for every ball, and that's it. That's the only chance."