‘I already had many warnings in my life’ – Andrey Rublev on recognising need to be ‘calmer’
Andrey Rublev reacts
Andrey Rublev reflected he “already had many warnings” in his life showing him he should be “calmer” after reaching the final of the 2024 Madrid Open.
The world No 8 admitted he was “already close to doing something not very good” before his Dubai disqualification and expressed he thinks he is “learning” to change his approach.
Rublev defeated world No 13 Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open on Friday to reach his fifth ATP Masters 1000 final.
Prior to Madrid, Rublev had endured a difficult run of form after being defaulted for shouting at a line judge during his Dubai semi-final match with Alexander Bublik in March.
The 26-year-old won his first match after the disqualification against Andy Murray in Indian Wells, but lost his next four matches in straight sets.
However, Rublev has turned his fortunes around in spectacular fashion in Madrid by winning five matches for the loss of just one set to reach the final.
Rublev, who impressively overcame two-time defending champion and world No 3 Carlos Alcaraz in the last eight, will face Felix Auger-Aliassime in the title match. He is looking to claim his second Masters 1000 crown to add to his 2023 Monte Carlo victory.
Speaking in his press conference after beating Fritz in the last four in the Spanish capital, Rublev discussed the dramatic reversal of his form.
“That’s how this sport is. Here, we often have big tournaments. In other sports, you have to wait months for it. That way, if you don’t do well in a tournament, you don’t have to wait as long,” said the Russian.
“It’s true that tennis is very hard mentally, but every week we have a new opportunity. The seasons are long and it is normal for there to be ups and downs. The good thing about going down a lot is that you can go up easily.”
The 15-time ATP titlist also addressed whether the incident against Bublik in Dubai had changed him.
“I already had many warnings in my life where I saw that I should be calmer. Not only in Dubai, in other places I was already close to doing something not very good and I was lucky that everything went well,” explained Rublev.
“I like to think that I am learning, not only from the warnings, but from myself, regardless of the situations I have been through.”
Rublev also weighed in on the tournaments in Madrid and Rome being extended amid recent criticism from some players over the 12-day format.
“There are things I like and things I don’t. I like the fact that I have a rest day and can recover a little physically for Sunday,” he assessed.
“Mentally it is harder, because you need to be at full strength for two weeks, not just one. At the end of the two weeks you feel a little more mentally tired than at the one week events. There are good and bad things.”