On Cincy’s “casino” courts, can Andrey Rublev strike gold again in Jannik Sinner rematch?

⬆️ WATCH: Andrey Rublev on reaching Cincy QFs, where Sinner rematch awaits | Tennis Channel Live ⬆️

CINCINNATI—World No. 6 Andrey Rublev is looking like his old consistent self again at the Cincinnati Open, where he recorded his eighth victory of the North American hard-court swing.

Bouncing back emphatically after his defeat to Alexei Popyrin in Monday’s final at the Omnium Banque National in Montreal, Rublev became the first quarterfinalist in Cincy after two confidence-boosting straight-sets victories over Zhang Zhizhen and Brandon Nakashima.

“I start to try to look at those things in a different way: I was struggling a lot, and to play the final after beating good players, it means a lot,” Rublev tells Tennis.com after his second-round match.

Read More: Andrey Rublev gets real about depression and burnout during up-and-down season

The Russian surged into his second ATP Masters 1000 final of the year in Canada, toppling world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the quaterfinals to hand the Italian only his second hard-court defeat (25-2) in 2024. He became not only the first player to reach two Masters finals this year, but also the first to defeat both Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz—the latter en route to his Mutua Madrid Open title.

He will get another shot at the current world No. 1 in Cincinnati, after Sinner—who celebrated his 23rd birthday Friday—received a walkover into the quarterfinals from Jordan Thompson. The pair are 1-1 on the season, with Sinner defeating Rublev in the Australian Open quarterfinals on his way to the title.

“It’s always super tough to play against him,” Rublev told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj on Friday. “(I want to) rest well today, to enjoy the day, and to enjoy the match tomorrow… I just want to try to compete like I did in Montreal and we’ll see what happens.”

If his triumph in Madrid seemed to come out of nowhere, then Rublev’s run in Montreal at least came with a few positive signs pointing to a possible resurgence. The 26-year-old caught fire in Madrid to break a four-match losing streak, but ultimately gained little traction having struggled with a tonsillar abscess that week. Rublev snapped another four-match skid heading into Montreal, and seemed to have finally regained his footing after taking a wild card into the Washington D.C. event to get more hard-court matches.

Read More: Andrey Rublev had "one big talk" with Marat Safin to "fix my head" after Wimbledon

After an early exit from Wimbledon, Rublev decided to skip the Paris Olympics in favor of “fixing his head”—a process that involved a “long conversation” with countryman Marat Safin. Rublev, who opened up in Montreal about the way his long struggle with depression has impacted his on-court behavior and performances, credited that talk with the two-time Grand Slam winner as the key to his mental turnaround this summer.

“Overall, it was an amazing tournament for me. No one expected it, especially after so many months struggling, not feeling well, not playing well at all,” Rublev told Tennis.com.

“It was a huge present for me to (reach) the final, and here I am feeling great as well. I think that final helped me a lot to be more calm in the important moments and trust myself more.”

Rublev, who reached his first hard-court Masters 1000 final here in 2021, has enjoyed the boost from the faster hard-courts amplifying his serve and forehand all week: He blasted 23 winners on Thursday against Zhang and 20 on Friday against Nakashima, with neither player able to break Rublev’s serve.

But the quick conditions at the Lindner Family Tennis Center are tailor-made to be the perfect test of that newfound calm and self-belief. Despite how they might seem to suit a player of Rublev’s archetype, the Russian isn't a fan.

“We are practicing, working hard, preparing our bodies, doing different drills and exercises, and then when you go to play and there’s no rallies? Only one serve and one return? It’s like going to the casino… It’s just fifty-fifty (odds), and it’s not that enjoyable,” he lamented.

“When you’re playing long rallies, you’re thinking, you’re defending, you’re counter-attacking, those things make it more special and more fun to play.

“It has more meaning, because also you can see the things that you’re working on outside the court, and now we are here doing them.”

No. 6 seed Rublev will face world No. 1 Sinner at the Cincinnati Open on Saturday. Sinner owns the 5-3 edge over Rublev in their overall head to head (5-1 in completed matches), and a 2-1 lead in hard-court matches.