Andrey Rublev goes from TV studio to practice courts in Washington D.C.

WATCH: Rublev reached his fifth major quarterfinal earlier this year at Roland Garros.

World No. 8 Andrey Rublev has hit the ground running in Washington D.C., as he prepares for his first tournament of the North American hard-court swing.

The Russian—who reached a clay-court semifinal two weeks ago in Bastad, Sweden—touched down in the States on Wednesday, and the next day, he was up bright and early for an appearance on a local morning show: Good Day DC.

The 2018 Citi Open semifinalist told host Holly Morris that he’s looking forward to returning to the city’s historic Rock Creek Park Tennis Center—a club that Rublev says feels straight out of a movie scene.

“I like the atmosphere a lot. In general, the club is super nice. It’s in a really typical ‘American style’ like you see in the movies about sports,” Rublev told the host. “The atmosphere, the spectators—you have matches at night so a lot of people come to support.

“You [put on] a good show. America is the best in this. In any sports entertainment, they’re the best.”

When the interview was over, Rublev was soon in the studio’s kitchen serving up meatballs with Michelin star chef Nicholas Stefanelli—part of the tournament’s Taste of Tennis event.

Just a few hours later, Rublev showed that his day was only getting started. He was spotted once again in Washington D.C.—this time on the practice courts, getting an early start to his tournament preparations.

And with good reason, too: the Citi Open features a stacked field this year, with the likes of Andy Murray, Nick Kyrgios, Hubert Hurkacz, Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka and more set to play in the 500-level event. The women’s tournament is just as star studded, with Simona Halep, Emma Raducanu, Venus Williams and more all taking part, too.

“The draw is really strong this year,” Rublev told Good Day DC. “I don’t remember exactly all the players, but I remember that the tournament [entries] closed with really, really high-ranked players.

“So I don’t want to play any of them!”