Rublev is at the top of his roller coaster and will play the final in Madrid. Ironically, is his illness helping?

Sometimes his biggest rival is his own head. The last few weeks have been a torment for Russian tennis player Rublev. He’s found his feet again in Madrid and will play the final here. Why might his poorer health have helped him to get his head right?

Rublev and his roller coaster

The last two months have been almost purgatory for Russia’s Rublev. He won a match against Britain’s Murray in early March and then came a series of defeats.

The tennis player who has long been part of the elite tennis players on the circuit broke down in his first match at three tournaments. The switch to clay tournaments didn’t help him either.

Two Czech tennis players also came to Rublev’s rescue during this period. Lehečka and Macháč knocked out the native of Moscow on the American concrete.

The tennis player, famous for his emotional outbursts, caught himself again only these days in Madrid. But he did it in a big way. He lost only one set at the Masters in the Spanish capital. But he didn’t regret it against the local icon Alcaraz. This win was a very valuable achievement.

After Friday’s victory over American Fritz, he secured his second ATP final of the year. The first one in Hong Kong at the beginning of January turned into his 15th title.

Energy in the right direction

Fernando Vicente, the coach of the 26-year-old tennis player, praises the fact that his ward does not waste his energy on emotional outbursts. Ironically, the reason why this is the case may be Rublev’s poorer health.

“He hasn‘t been feeling too well the last two days,” Vicente says of Rublev’s condition ahead of the quarterfinal match. He tried to channel all his energy into the main match against Alcaraz. Tennis.

And it worked very well. A focused Rublev beat one of the biggest favourites at the Masters in Madrid 4:6, 6:3, 6:2 and definitely confirmed that his roller coaster is heading upwards.

He was clearly the better player in Friday’s semi-final against Fritz and will deservedly play another final in Spain. He has only one triumph from a tournament of this level so far.

On Sunday he can prove that he can win big tennis events. Especially to himself. It would be of great importance for his further progression, especially at Grand Slams.

Source: ATP, MMOpen