He considered withdrawing from the tournament, but ended up winning it! What did Rublev go through in Madrid?

The bad period is forgotten. Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev is on top again. In Madrid, he claimed the second Masters title of his career. The title he’s most proud of of all. Why?

Rublev in Madrid

Although he has long been part of the elite tennis players on the ATP circuit, he certainly didn’t come to Madrid as one of the favourites. Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev has been putting up a miserable performance in recent weeks and has struggled more with himself than his opponents.

But in the Spanish capital, everything has changed. The native of Moscow got into great shape and beat even home favourite and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz on his way to the final.

Rublev also changed his on-court demeanour. He was much less distracted by the umpires’ decisions or other match circumstances.

He focused on his performance, ironically for a reason that should have been more detrimental to his performance. He was not in good health.

In a post-match interview, he even admitted that he had considered withdrawing from the prestigious tennis event for this reason. Fortunately, he did not do so.

Masters final

“I would say this is the title I am most proud of in my career,” Rublev assessed all the hardships in an interview after his triumph. And it was indeed a story straight out of a movie.

A player floundering in a crisis arrives at a major event of world importance, where he must also contend with illness. And like a good movie, he ends up with a tournament trophy over his head.

The final match itself was quite a battle. Rublev lost the first set, but from the next set onwards he was a slightly better player. He had more of the game, but always won the important games at the very end of sets two and three. In both of them he defeated the Canadian Auger-Aliassime 7:5.

The triumph in Madrid is only the second event at this level that the 26-year-old has won in his career. It remains to be seen whether he will take his concentrated performance to Grand Slam tournaments, where he is still waiting for a proper success.

Source: ATP, MMOpen, X