US Open 2017: Teenager Andrey Rublev could potentially face his idol Rafael Nadal in quarter-final

New York: Russian teen Andrey Rublev, who grew up trying to copy Rafael Nadal right down to buying the same clothes, could face his boyhood idol in the US Open quarter-finals. The 19-year-old from Moscow continued his deepest Grand Slam run Saturday, advancing to the last 16 by defeating Bosnia’s 56th-ranked Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. “It feels great,” Rublev said. “This is amazing because we used to joke before about the second week, how good is to be in the second week. Now I’m here.” [caption id=“attachment_4002825” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Russia’s Andrey Rublev in action at the US Open. AP[/caption] Together with Canadian 18-year-old Denis Shapovalov, they are the first two teens into the fourth round at the US Open or any Grand Slam event since Kei Nishikori and Juan Martin del Potro in 2008. Rublev plays for a quarter-final berth on Monday against Belgian ninth seed David Goffin, whom he has never faced. If he wins, he might just play 15-time Grand Slam winner Nadal for the first time with a trip to the semi-finals at stake, providing the Spaniard gets past his fourth-round foe, Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov. Rublev admits he first idolized 2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open winner Marat Safin of Russia. “When I was a kid, it was Safin. It was the first thing that I saw,” Rublev said. “I was completely thinking that he’s my idol. I was watching every match. “Then also Nadal. He was my idol. I was buying the same clothes as him, all the new collections. I was trying to copy. Safin and Nadal were always my favorite ones.” Rublev, who could spoil a first-ever US Open match-up between Nadal and Roger Federer in the semi-finals, has a soft spot for the Swiss star as well. “I liked Federer also always. But, I was not trying to copy the clothes,” Rublev said. “Safin and Nadal, I was trying to copy always and Federer I just like him.” Rublev, in only his fifth Slam main draw, won his first match over a top-10 foe by eliminating Bulgarian seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov in the second round. He defeated Dzumhur without coach Fernando Vicente, who departed New York to attend his sister’s wedding but will be back for the match against Goffin. “He is top 10. He’s one of the top players. I will try to do my best,” Rublev said. “I have not many options. If I want to compete against him, to have any chances, I have to try to show my game, to play my rhythm the way I want it to be. “If I will try to play slower or something, I’m going to be dead on the court. I have no chance.” Rublev, set to jump into the top 50 from his current ranking of 53, is the first Russian in the last 16 on the New York hard-courts since Mikhail Youzhny in 2013. Rublev won his first career ATP title at July’s Croatian Open as the first lucky loser to capture a tour title since American Rajeev Ram at Newport in 2008. His efforts have earned the respect of Shapovalov, who is trying to become the youngest US Open champion, breaking the mark of 19 Pete Sampras set in 1990. “Every Grand Slam, it’s a chance for young guys to prove themselves and I’ve been doing that,” Shapovalov said. “Hopefully I can keep doing that. Yeah, guys like Rublev or anyone else still in, why not? I think everyone is beatable.”