Andrey Rublev said reaching the Canadian Open was "worth the wait", while it also backed up his decision to skip the Paris Olympics. (More Tennis News)
Rublev made the call not to participate at Roland-Garros as he instead focused on readying himself for the North American swing.
And the Russian's US Open preparations stepped up another gear as he defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-4 6-2 on Sunday to reach the final of the Canadian Open for the first time in his career.
Rublev had to overcome a rain delay in the process of defeating the Italian in Montreal.
"The wait has been worth it. I'm happy to be in my first Canadian final." Rublev said, as reported by the ATP's official website.
"I just want to recover, rest well and be ready for [the final].
"The idea [of not going to the Olympics] was to be more ready for Canada, so if I'm in the final it means we did really well."
Rublev will go up against someone who was competing at the Olympics when he faces Alexei Popyrin on Monday.
In his second match of the day, Popyrin ended Sebastian Korda's eight-match winning streak to prevail 7-6 (7-0) 6-3 and progress to the first ATP 1000 final of his career.
"It means the world, it's an amazing achievement for myself to be honest, and sometimes you have to pat yourself on the back," said Popyrin.
"I'll do that, but it's all hands on deck and back to work.
"It was a topsy-turvy first set with some breaks here and there. I had some points at 5-4 but played some sloppy points and didn't convert.
"I just stayed mentally strong and I knew exactly what I was going to do on my next break point if I got an opportunity."
Popyrin (62) is the lowest-ranked player to reach the final of the Canadian Open in the men's singles since Harel Levy, a qualifier, in 2000.
