Rafael Nadal v Andrey Rublev LIVE: Latest updates from the US Open 2017

Nadal has had a far better 2017 than he might have hoped when he had to take a lengthy chunk of time off tennis last year to recover from a wrist injury.

He reached the final of the Australian Open, where he lost to Federer, but then won his 10th French Open title – La Decima, as it became known – to take his Grand Slam tally to 15.

Rublev could hardly be at a more opposite end of the spectrum. The 19-year-old Russian has never won more than one match at the same major before knocking Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin out on his way to the last eight.

Can he spring one more surprise and knock out Nadal? Express Sport will guide you all the way through the clash on Arthur Ashe.

Rafael Nadal v Andrey Rublev LIVE – Latest US Open 2017 updates

8.30pm: RAFAEL NADAL TAKES THE SECOND SET 6-2

Both players have gone off court – and Rublev in particular needs the break. It’s an absolute barrage from Nadal and even when Rublev forces him back, he’s lacking the confidence to come into the net and finish the point.

8.25pm: It’s not nice to watch, really. Rublev’s head is down somewhere between his knees as a Nadal slice kicks out and the Russian promptly nets his return to give the Spaniard ANOTHER break of serve. Ugly scoreline.

Nadal leads 5-2 and by one set to love

8.10pm: Rublev is definitely showing off some of his ability from the baseline – a couple of these winners are electric. There’s no doubting his ability but consistency is what Nadal offers and what the Russian must find if he wants to beat him.

There’s plenty of applause for his second hold of the match but the crowd are probably more pro-Nadal. And they get their wish as Nadal breaks again in game five and this match is starting to look like it might be over very quickly.

Nadal leads 3-2 and by one set to love

7.55pm: 11 unforced errors from Rublev seem to be the most crucial stat of the first set to me. He was over-awed by the occasion and the opponent – but it’s not over. He needs a solid service game to start the second set because he has not held yet.

New balls seem to help and he holds to love. Well done, buddy.

Rublev leads 1-0 in the second set, Nadal leads one set to love

7.50pm: RAFAEL NADAL WINS THE FIRST SET 6-1

The Spaniard presses his foot on the throat of the set in game six, batter a couple of Rublev serves back with disdain. The last break eventually goes with a volley that the Russian fails to kill adequately and Nadal holds to love. That took just 24 minutes, which for Nadal is lightning fast.

7.45pm: This has been a thrilling start. Both players are going hell for leather from the baseline and both finding winers.

A Nadal backhand down the line surprises Rublev – the Spaniard has hit that shot crosscourt so many times this fortnight – to bring up two more break points.

The first one is saved with a whippy forehand but he can’t land another one and Nadal has the break back.

Nadal leads 3-1

7.40pm: Two booming backhands from Rublev and an error from Nadal bring up two break points and the Russian converts with a HUGE forehand. Wowzer. Gutsy from Rublev. Back on serve!

Nadal leads 2-1

7.35pm: Not a great start for Rublev, who certainly looks more than a little tight, according to the esteemed John McEnroe.

He gives Nadal a look at his second serve at break point and then batters a forehand long. Deep breathing required for the Russian.

Nadal leads 2-0.

7.28pm: Here we go then. Rafael Nadal, in a brilliant pink shirt and headband once again, to serve first…

7.20pm: The players are out, we’ve had the coin toss and they are knocking up. Shall we look at their head-to-head record in the meantime? Nope. We can’t. Because they’ve never played.

That should give Rublev a little bit of an element of surprise but given that the Russian has hit some serious form this year AND trains in Spain, it’s unlikely Nadal hasn’t had the chance to break down his game. In a few minutes, we’ll see what he’s come up with.

6.50pm: Going CoCo!! Vandeweghe has beaten Pliskova in straight sets in some emotional scenes on Arthur Ashe.

What it also means is that Rafa and Andrey will be out on court pretty soon. Excellent news all round.

6.25pm: Looks like we might be getting a little closer to Nadal O’Clock. Vandeweghe has taken the first set in a tie-break and No 1 seed Pliskova is in a bit of a strop, to the delight of the American fans.

Rafa is probably pacing a little more urgently in the locker rooms.

6pm: Surely, surely Rublev can’t ruin the party, can he? If he does, there will be one fan who paid more than £17,000 for a pair of courtside tickets to the Nadal-Federer semi-final who will want his guts for garters.

Before any of that though, we need to wait for Karolina Pliskova and CoCo Vandeweghe to sort out which one of them will be in the semi-finals. That might be a while at this rate because we are probably going to a tie-break in tight first set.

The roof incidentally, for those who are interested, is closed. That probably favours Rublev slightly – but it’s a marginal gain.