Sep 2, 2019; Flushing, NY, USA; Matteo Berrettini of Italy hits to Andrey Rublev of Russia in a fourth round match on day eight of the 2019 US Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports
September 2, 2019
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Matteo Berrettini of Italy advanced to his first Grand Slam quarter-final by beating Russia’s Andrey Rublev 6-1 6-4 7-6(6) at the U.S. Open on Monday.
Berrettini, seeded 24th, made use of his big forehand throughout the match, hitting 17 forehand winners on the Louis Armstrong Stadium court.
“My weapons were really good today,” said Berrettini who hit a total of 37 winners. “I was mixing up my tennis.”
The 43rd-ranked Rublev, with wins against Swiss pair Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka in Cincinnati last month, went into Monday’s match as the slight favorite.
But the Russian struggled with his first serve through most of the match, managing to get only 56% of first serves in and losing 67% of those he landed.
Berrettini faces the winner of Monday;s later match between France’s 13th seed Gael Monfils and Pablo Andujar of Spain.
(Reporting by Arlyn Gajilan; Editing by Ken Ferris)
