In the first round in Beijing, Andrey Rublev trailed the more-experienced, higher-ranked Jack Sock by a set before winning in three.
On Thursday in the Chinese capital, he went one better, coming back from 6-1 3-1 down to upset former top 10 star Tomas Berdych 1-6 6-4 6-1.
The 19-year-old Russian chatted about his exceptional performance with atpworldtour.com, saying that while he’d initially struggled with confidence on his serve, he was always in the hunt during the rallies.
CHINA OPEN DAY 6: Zverev’s charge continues
“After (the US Open) I didn’t really practice for a while, so in the beginning of the match for me it’s tough a little bit to find the rhythm, and as soon as I find the rhythm, I start to play much better,” he said.
“Match by match, especially when I win kind of matches like this, I feel like I’m much more confident.”
Rublev next lines up against Alexander Zverev in what will be a blockbuster quarterfinal between two of the game’s brightest young stars.
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