Masters and favorites: Rublev and Khachanov enliven the season in Rome

Russian tennis players continue to compete for the title at the super tournament in Rome. Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov reached the quarterfinals of the ATP 1000 tournament on Tuesday, May 12. For Rublev, this is the first appearance in the top 8 of the "thousandth" since April last year, when he reached this stage in Madrid. Khachanov reached the quarterfinals of a tournament of this level for the first time since August 2025, when he eventually reached the finals in Toronto. Mirra Andreeva showed the best result among Russian women.: She defended her points last season, but again lost to world number three Coco Gauff.

Rublev will play with Sinner, Khachanov will play with Ruud.

After the final in Barcelona, where Andrey Rublev lost to Artur Fis, he performed poorly at the tournament in Madrid. The defeat in the first round by Vitus Koprzyv called into question the readiness of the Russian second racket for Roland Garros. However, on a slower surface in Rome, Andrey was able to demonstrate why his game is great for the ground. In the second round, the 28-year—old Russian passed Serbian Miomir Ketsmanovich, and in the third round, a Spaniard with Russian roots, Alejandro Davidovich-Fokin. Rublev won both matches in two sets and defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili. The Georgian tennis player, who is now outside the top 100, reached the 1/8 Masters for the first time since 2021. He went through two seeded players at once, including world number six Ben Shelton, so he posed a serious threat. Besides, Basilashvili led Rublev in personal meetings (4:3).

And the match really turned out to be very tough. Nikoloz took the first set and led 2-0 in the second. However, Andrey managed to turn the game around. He won the second game in a difficult tie-break (7-5), and in the third he left no chance for his opponent. Thanks to this success, Rublev rose to 13th place in the ATP live ranking and will now play with Yannick Sinner. In face-to-face meetings, the first racket of the world is ahead (7:3), but Rublev often gave the fight to the titled Italian, so the fans will have an interesting confrontation.

Rublev's close friend Karen Khachanov also reached the quarterfinals stage (the guys showed up for the tournament in Rome and in doubles, but then withdrew due to their successful singles performance). In the second round, the 29-year—old Russian was stronger than his former compatriot Alexander Shevchenko (now representing Kazakhstan), and in the third round - Botik van de Sandshulp from the Netherlands. For reaching the quarterfinals, Karen fought with Dino Prijmich, who made one of the main sensations of the tournament, knocking out Novak Djokovic himself, and then coping with the strong Frenchman Hugo Humber.

However, Khachanov managed to stop the forward movement of the 20-year-old Croat. He took the first set more than confidently (6:1), and in the second everything was decided in a tie-break (7:2). The Russian reached the quarterfinals of the Masters for the 11th time and for the first time at the tournament in Rome. In addition, for the first time since August last year, Karen won three consecutive victories. Next, he will play with the finalist of three Grand Slam tournaments Kasper Ruud. The Norwegian still leads in personal meetings with a score of 2:1.

For Myrrh all over the world: how Andreeva conquers Madrid and dreams of shoes

The Russian became the youngest semi-finalist of the Spanish thousandth

Andreeva gave a Gauff fight in Rome

Myrrh has an excellent soil season. In April, she took the title in Linz, Austria and reached the semifinals in Stuttgart, losing to the future winner and probably the strongest tennis player this season, Elena Rybakina. After that, Andreeva showed excellent results at her favorite "thousandth match" in Madrid, where the Russian played 11 matches in 11 days, reaching the finals in singles and paired with Diana Schneider. Alas, both title chances were missed. However, Mirra did not withdraw from Rome after such a powerful physical exertion and completed the minimum task.

The seventh racket of the world managed to defend points last year, reaching the quarterfinals. On the way to him, Andreeva defeated Croatian Antonia Ruzic, had a tough match with Swiss Victoria Golubic and was able to beat the former first racket in doubles Eliza Mertens.

Next, she had a match with Coco Gauff, with whom Mirra is still frankly not working out. In four matches, the Russian did not win a single set against the American, including on clay. Gauff beat Andreeva in the third round of Roland Garros 2023, as well as at last year's Madrid–Rome tie. A year ago in the Eternal City, both games turned out to be stubborn, and Gauff won the second set on a tie-break. This time, the Russian managed to take the long—awaited set - Myrrh won the first game, but failed to build on her success. The third racket of the world soon equalized the score, and the decisive set turned into a real thriller. In it, Coco led 4-1, Mirra made a comeback (4-4), but the American had more strength left for the end.

With three wins in Rome, Mirra was able to secure fourth place in the WTA championship race. Now we are waiting for Andreeva to give a great performance at Roland Garros. At last year's French major, the 19-year-old Russian reached the quarterfinals.