The legendary Swiss had famously picked the 23-year-old Russian back in 2019 when he was asked about the player to watch out for in 2020. And much like his game, Federer’s prediction has turned out to be inch-perfect.
Andrey Rublev has racked up five titles in 2020, while also reaching multiple Slam quarterfinals. And during a recent video-conference with fans from around the world, Rublev answered a few questions about the Swiss great’s much talked about prediction.
One of the fans - who was from Paris - first asked Rublev if Roger Federer’s prediction had had any impact on his season so far. The Russian responded that it was ‘amazing’ to have a legend like Roger Federer regard him highly. He also modestly added that the other youngsters on tour were at an ‘amazing level’ as well.
The host of the video-conference then asked Rublev about his initial reaction to Roger Federer’s prediction. The World No. 8 replied that he first saw the video around the time of the Qatar Open final in January - which would, incidentally, turn out to be his first title of the year.
The Russian then recalled his surprise that Federer had picked him over the likes of Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Karen Khachanov and Alex de Minaur.
Roger Federer saw something in Andrey Rublev during his Cincinnati 2019 loss to the Russian
When the video of Roger Federer’s prediction was released in December 2019, Andrey Rublev was outside the top 20 and had only shown glimpses of his true potential. But one of the biggest glimpses was his win over Federer himself at the Cincinnati Masters.
It was the legendary Swiss’ quickest loss in over a decade, and it showed exactly how good Rublev could be on his day.
Naturally, the performance didn’t go unnoticed by Federer. Here is the video in which the Swiss made his prediction; interestingly, he was the only player to pick Rublev amongst all those asked.
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