Andrey Rublev explains what was so unusual about Daniil Medvedev’s latest match at the Canadian Open

Daniil Medvedev was hoping for a repeat of his 2021 success in Canada, but it wasn’t to be as he fell in the third round.

The Russian star travelled to Canada with title ambitions, in a field weakened by the withdrawals of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic.

Kicking off his campaign with an important win, Medvedev struggled past Czech youngster Dalibor Svrcina in his opener to set up a third-round clash with the defending champion, Alexei Popyrin.

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It was there that his run came to an end, however, as Medvedev lost to Popyrin, 7-5, 4-6, 4-6.

Sharing his thoughts on Medvedev’s defeat, Russian number one Andrey Rublev explained how the surface speed affected him.

Andrey Rublev says there were ‘one or two rallies every ten minutes’ in Daniil Medvedev’s latest match

Speaking to the Tennis Channel after his third-round win, Rublev commented on Medvedev’s Canadian Open exit.

“On the fast courts, yesterday I was watching Daniil [Medvedev] and Alexei [Popyrin]…Boom, boom serve,” he said.

“Daniil is the kind of player that normally you play a lot of rallies with him, it was a lot of one serve, you spend ten minutes and you maybe see one or two rallies.

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“The rest was serve mistake, serve mistake, or maybe serve, return, mistake. There is less variety.”

Rublev had been discussing the difference in surface speeds at various tournaments on the ATP Tour, as he revealed he preferred the slower courts to the faster courts used in Toronto.

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“First of all, most of the courts are super fast. I feel indoor courts are slower than outside courts,” he said.

“I feel as a spectator, I enjoy watching tennis more on the slower courts, even Wimbledon, supposed to be fast grass, but you have much more rallies there, and you enjoy how they are defending, how they are playing, how they are thinking where to put the ball, the one who is trying to dictate.

“On the slower courts, you see it more clearly, tactics, physical conditions, speed-wise, how they are moving the legs.”

Rublev may prefer watching tennis on slower courts, but that hasn’t stopped him from performing on the faster Toronto courts in 2025.

The 2024 Canadian Open finalist was made to work hard for a place in the fourth round, but managed to get the job done, securing the win in three sets.

Rublev will now prepare to take on Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his next match, one of the form players on tour.

Andrey Rublev ready for ‘great challenge’ against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

The world number 11 was asked for his thoughts on the Spanish star, who narrowly lost out in the Washington Open final last time around.

“It will be a great challenge for me, because I’ve played many times against him; last time he beat me, so it will be a great challenge for me,” said Rublev.

“He’s in super good shape now, he’s winning great matches, doing great results, so it will be a great challenge to challenge myself.”

Rublev and Davidovich Fokina have played six times on the ATP Tour, as the Russian leads their head-to-head, 5-1.

Match Winner Loser Score 2025 Barcelona Open – 2R Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-4 2024 China Open – 2R Andrey Rublev Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 7-5 2024 Madrid Open – 3R Andrey Rublev Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6, 6-4 2023 Italian Open – 3R Andrey Rublev Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6, 6-3 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships – 2R Andrey Rublev Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 1-6, 7-6, 7-6 2020 French Open – 2R Andrey Rublev Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 Andrey Rublev and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s head-to-head record

Davidovich Fokina did pick up his first win over Rublev the last time they faced off, however, defeating him in the second round of the 2025 Barcelona Open.

In better form now than he was then, Rublev believes he’ll start picking up some big wins before too long.

“I don’t know specifically at this event where I am. But, overall, the last few months, I’ve been great, I’ve been playing good tennis,” he said.

“The level is improving, the level is there. So, it doesn’t matter, this event, if I will keep this level, if I keep the level I’ve had since Wimbledon, sooner or later something will happen.”

Only time will tell if ‘something will happen’ in Toronto, but Rublev will certainly look to extend his stay in Canada with a win over Davidovich Fokina on Sunday, August 3.

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