Andrey Rublev explains what makes Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev special

After reaching the US Open round-of-16, rising Russian star Andrey Rublev tried to explain what makes his fellow compatriots Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev so special.

Khachanov, ranked at No. 16 in the world, claimed the biggest title of his career at the Paris Masters in 2018 and his career-high ranking saw him sitting at No. 8 in the world.

Per Rublev, Khachanov has a great serve, a strong backhand and he never gives up on the court.

"First of all, thank you for congratulations," Rublev started.

"Well, let's start with Karen, because I'm practicing with him quite often and we used to practice together for couple of years. I mean, for sure he have really good serve, especially really good percentage of the serve and placement.

"He can serve everywhere. Second serve is really hard. So it's not easy to attack. So even sometimes maybe his first serve doesn't go well, he still is serving really hard second one. Then it's tough to break him anyway.

"Really great backhand. Really great. He's hitting really hard crosscourt and he can change down the line with a backhand from any positions.

"He's a fighter. He always try to fight. He always try to, even if he doesn't feel well, he still fighting. And in the end, he's great player. He is where he is, he is top 15. He was top 10. So in the end..."

Rublev says Medvedev has an amazing game-style 

Medvedev made a total of nine finals last season and achieved a career-high ranking No. 4 in the world. 

At one point of the season, Medvedev made six consecutive finals.

"Daniil, yeah, he have amazing serve, amazing return (smiling). Have amazing legs. Unbelievable fighter," Rublev said.

"He brings all the balls. He fights no matter what. His backhand -- I mean, not even the backhand. His style of the game is really, really unusual. So you cannot rush with him. He force you to play not your style of the game. He force you to play a little bit slower. He force you to wait more, to play longer rallies. Many players maybe in one moment after one hour playing this type of game, type of style, they start to stress, they start to give up, they start to rush, they start to go for the shots, try to play shorter rallies, and in the end they miss more than they make.

"In the end, it's amazing style of the game of Daniil. That's how he become top 3."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3jSOjIW