Federico Gaio v Andrey Rublev: easy match for the Russian?

Gaio loves playing on clay. It was on this surface that the Italian played the most matches in his career. Federico got into the main draw of the current competition in Barcelona as a lucky loser. In qualifications, Gaio defeated the Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo (7-6, 6-4), but then lost to Ilya Ivashka (3-6, 2-6).

In the first round the Italian was expected to beat the Frenchman Benoit Paire who has recently not been very motivated,  - and so he did (7-5, 6-3).

Rublev came to Barcelona as a runner-up of the Monte Carlo Masters, which took place last week. At that tournament, Andrey defeated the Clay King himself - to defeat Rafael Nadal Rublev needed three sets (6-2, 4-6, 6-2).

However, after defeating the eminent Spaniard, Andrei still failed to win the tournament. In the final match, the Russian could not overcome the Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas (3-6, 3-6).