Italian Sonego says Rublev feud ‘in the past’, defends ‘one of best guys’ Jannik Sinner
World No 53 delivered fabulous display to beat Brandon Nakashima and book Hong Kong Open second-round spot
Lorenzo Sonego said he has buried the hatchet with defending Bank of China Hong Kong Open champion Andrey Rublev, after a fallout between the pair last month.
Italian Sonego delivered an imperious display of all-court tennis on Monday to beat talented American Brandon Nakashima 7-6, 6-3 and move into the second round of this year’s Hong Kong tournament.
It was Sonego’s first match since he lost to Rublev in last month’s Moselle Open. The victorious Rublev immediately withdrew from the French competition, however, to travel to Italy and prepare for the lucrative season-ending ATP Tour finals.
At the time, Sonego said Rublev’s pull-out “wasn’t very fair or respectful towards me”.
“It wasn’t a nice thing for us players who maybe put our heart into moving forward in a tournament, while he doesn’t care at all about it,” Sonego said.
After his win over Nakashima at Victoria Park Tennis Centre, however, Sonego told the Post: “It’s the past, he is the best player in this tournament, we played a lot of times together and it’s good to see him [in Hong Kong].
