Andrey Rublev from Russia recorded his second win at the Thiem's 7 event on Day Three. (Getty Images)
The world No. 9 Andrey Rublev locks horns with French veteran Adrian Mannarino in the Astana Open quarter-finals on Friday.
The 24-year-old came into the tournament on the back of a quarter-final run at the US Open. He lost to an in-form Frances Tiafoe in straight sets.
So far at the Astana Open, Rublev has shown his class. He has dominated Laslo Djere and Zhang Zhizhen in the first couple of matches to storm into the last-eight stage of the competition. Against Djere, Rublev used his serves to good effect and won the match 6-4, 6-3. In the second round, Rublev went past Zhang in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
The experienced campaigner won the Winston-Salem Open in August but crashed out in the first rounds at the US Open, the Metz Open, and the Tel Aviv Open.
Mannarino has managed to return to form at the Astana Open with a couple of hard-fought wins against Stan Wawrinka and David Goffin. On both occasions, the 34-year-old came back from a set down to script memorable wins. Against the 3-time Grand Slam champion Wawrinka, Mannarino won 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. In the round of 16, Goffin got off to a fine start but Mannarino pulled things back in his favor from the early goings of the second set to eventually win 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 1-1. Mannarino defeated Rublev in their last encounter in the round of 16 of the 2021 Kremlin Cup 5-7, 7-6, 6-3.
Prediction: Andrey Rublev to win in three sets.
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