Nadal takes young Rublev to school, reaches Open semis in 97 minutes

NEW YORK—Ah, to be 19 again. Rafael Nadal certainly remembers being 19.

“Of course, better [to] be 19 than 31—my opinion,” Nadal said. “I always wanted to be young. Even when I was 8 years old, I was not very happy to when I was, my birthday, to be 9. Still the same. I am 31, and I am not happy when my birthday going to be 32.

“For the moment, I didn't find the way to stop that watch.”

No one is going to find a way to “stop that watch,” so Nadal has to just settle for proving that the 30s are the best decade, at least on the ATP tour.

Age and experience destroyed youth and naiveté on Wednesday at the US Open, with Nadal dismantling 19-year-old Andrey Rublev, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, to book a spot in the semifinals.

Momentum is a huge factor in any sport, but more so in individual ones like tennis, and Rublev was defenseless once Nadal began steamrolling—it actually looked like Rublev lost the match before it even began.

It’s not a good feeling, being helpless while doing what is meant to be your expert field of work. But for Rublev, he’ll have plenty of opportunities in the future to make someone else experience how Nadal made him feel inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“I think he's so professional. He try to do everything perfect,” Rublev said. “That's why he's No. 1, one of the best guys in all the history.”

Yes, Nadal schooled Rublev on the biggest tennis stage in the world, but competing in the quarters of a Grand Slam against a world No. 1 is a career milestone for anyone, no matter what the result.

Rublev became the youngest US Open quarterfinalist since 2011 and the first ATP Next Gen prospect to get this far. His ranking will rise to a career-high of No. 37, and he’s got nothing but time ahead of him to gain experience and add muscle to his very lanky 6’2” frame.

“Of course he's young, and when you are young you feel that everything is new,” Nadal said before the match. “But he already won a lot of matches on the tour. He's not a kid that he came now in this event, of course not. He's on the tour for a while. “

You can see why Nadal would take a 19-year-old rising star very seriously. When the Spaniard was Rublev’s age, he won his first of 10 Roland Garros crowns in his debut. That year, 2005, Nadal took home 11 titles—the most he’s ever won in a single season.

Rublev, who won his first ATP title earlier this season, has been open about how much he has idolized Nadal since childhood. Idol or not, Nadal wasn’t in the mood to spare the Russian’s feelings in the 1-hour-and-37-minute rout.

Of course, playing your idol is still a dream come true. Think about who you idolize the most (be it Steffi Graf, Harrison Ford or Bruce Springsteen) and imagine sharing a stage with them when you’re still just a teenager. That’s something Rublev just got to live through.

“It happened to me when I was 18, 17, 16, and I was here on the tour. I was playing against players I was admiring a lot from home, watching them from TV,” Nadal said. “That’s the negative part of being old. At the same time, it’s great to have a new, great generation coming, and he is one of the young generation that has a great future.”

No, Nadal is not 19 anymore. But at 31 he’s on top of the world, and being in the position of idol is certainly a great place to be.