Andrey Rublev finished 2023 as the fifth racket in the world. This season he won the Masters for the first time and reached the quarterfinals of Grand Slam tournaments three times. Unfortunately, he was not able to perform successfully in the Final Tournament, but it was still the best season of Rublev’s career.
We spoke with Andrey after his performance in Turin. We didn’t have much time to talk, but we tried to discuss the main things: the season, psychology, the future and dreams.
– In 2023 you had your best season. Because? – Due to change of team. I got a second coach: Alberto Martín, a new physiotherapist, a new physical trainer. Already at the beginning of the season I felt like I had found the job I was looking for. The victory in Monte Carlo and the following tournaments only confirmed that he had to believe in what he was doing, don’t doubt it.
Andrei Rublev
Photo: Getty Images
– How exactly did you understand that the work was going well? – Alberto gave a lot. It is clear that Fernando (Vicente, Rublev’s main coach. – Note from the “Championship”) is doing very well in training, but the second coach studied sports psychology. We do a lot of things with him outside of training that are specifically aimed at his behavior on the court. Furthermore, he can explain to me in another language the things that Fernando tells me. A physical trainer offers you a completely different job, different exercises. I feel that it works correctly and that I am gaining speed.
– What have you improved the most this year? – Of course, on the other hand. This is something that I myself feel very good about, that has improved. And he increased her movement. I move around the court much faster now than I did at the beginning of the year. I started to maintain pace and speed much better and started to defend better.
Here you can find out how much Rublev earned in a year.
Almost $1.5 million for two: how much Medvedev and Rublev won in the final
– What needs to be improved? – A lot of everything. The main thing, of course, is psychology. This is what I miss the most compared to Novak, Danja, Carlos and Yannick. They are much more stable than me psychologically. Regarding the technical aspects, the movement can be improved further. And above all we need to improve our second service. This component clearly stands out to me from a bad point of view compared to everyone else in the top 10. They all serve second strongest to me. Network access needs to be improved. If with my game I can volley not only simple balls, but also be able to unexpectedly reach the net, this will give me a great advantage. Even if I just improve my psychology and my second serve, it will be a completely different tennis.
– What are the problems with the second service? – The rackets I play with do not impart speed to the ball on their own. I need to invest in it. Consequently, the faster I want to accelerate the ball, the more I need to invest, and this means risk and mistakes. Knowing all this, when the score is tied on the second serve, I am pinched: the movement is wrinkled and uncertain. Even when the score is comfortable and I can afford to hit the second one harder, I still need to try harder than many other tops, because they have a different tension, the balance is more in the head of the racket.
– What was not enough to overcome the barrier of the quarterfinals in this year’s Grand Slams? – Djokovic’s absence in my field was not enough (laughs). I lost to him twice. And in the match with Danya in the quarterfinals of the US Open there was not enough psychology. It was a good match, there were chances to win at least one set, but in key moments Danya played better. Although in general he was better in the game: he served better, he played better. It’s just that I’ve never had a situation where he led by a break in every set and didn’t win any. This moment confused me throughout the game. Normally, when I win with a break, I always win at least one set. That’s why I talk about psychology. If Danya had simply won 3-0 and I had not led by a break in each game, then that would mean that at that moment he was simply stronger than me in everything and I needed to work. But precisely in that match psychology also played a role.
– You played a good match with Djokovic at Wimbledon, an excellent and very close match in Paris at the Masters. Do you feel like you’re much closer to winning big tournaments than guys like him? – Yes. After the match with Danya at the US Open, the game went up. If we take the period until the end of the year, not counting Turin, I have never played so well in my life. I managed to constantly show a high level, and not like before: I will give a good match, then not so much. Never before has such a long period occurred.
– Djokovic is 36 years old and continues to terrorize the next generation. Why does he beat everyone? – First of all, it serves very well: at any point, anywhere, with great precision. If the court is also fast, then it is almost impossible to do anything on the reception. Furthermore, if the first ball fails, the second is also strong and powerful. Secondly, it moves incredibly, very fast. Third, concentration and psychology. It seems like you’re playing on equal terms with him, everything is 50/50, but at some point his switch flips and he starts playing at your speed and without making mistakes. It often happens to me with him that when the ball is convenient, you can score, but Novak still guesses and somehow passes me. These are details, but they all have to do with Djokovic. In moments when there is more pressure on both players, Novak almost always plays better than you. He uses this skillfully, predicts your steps. You will be able to hold your serve perfectly, reach a tiebreaker, where with the score 5:5, he will read your serve and accept it so that you can’t do anything.
Who is behind Djokovic’s success?
Family, coaches and patriarch. Who is behind Novak Djokovic’s success?
– If you had the opportunity to take something away from him, what would you take away from him? – Left kick. It works very well for him.
– Is victory in Monte Carlo the best feeling in life? – On par with winning the Olympic Games. The only thing is that I didn’t have time to celebrate, in both cases. We ended up late in Monte Carlo and had to fly out the next day. And in Tokyo, immediately after the awards ceremony, we had to quickly go to the Olympic village and prepare for the airport. But in both cases it was crazy joy, tears and euphoria that I had never experienced before.
Andrey Rublev after his victory in Monte Carlo
Photo: Marcio Machado/Getty Images
Andrey’s detailed story about psychopaths: reasons, attempts to cope, how he feels about them
– In Turin you scared everyone so much with blows to the knees that even Kyrgios was ready to become your mental coach. Why is it always the knees that suffer? Is it even possible to control these outbursts of anger? – Of course it’s possible. It turned out that they were the last tournaments. Why knees? There are two reasons for this. First of all, because of the scandals. I am very selective; I find it difficult to find rackets that I like. Even though they are the same, out of 15 rackets only two or three suit me. That’s why I feel sorry for hitting them on the court again, because if they break, then I have to go back to look for them (laughs). And that can take a long time, so I hit the knees and not the court. Secondly, sometimes I resent myself so strongly that I don’t know what else to do to give myself a signal that it’s time to wake up. In those moments, I try to tell myself: “Wake up! Half the game has already passed and you haven’t done anything.” All of this leads to this outburst of anger. And immediately after this outburst I feel guilty because I step on the same rake again. Because all these crazy people are not necessary for anything, they do not help me at all, I understand that. But right now I just don’t know what else to do to catch up.
– Have you tried to find out where this anger comes from? – I just really want to win, to show a good result. But unfortunately, sometimes this results in aggression. When you want something so badly, but it doesn’t work, the puzzle in your head doesn’t fit: “How is this possible? “I wanted it very much, it was my dream, but the reality is different.” My expectations of myself trigger these emotions in me. Plus the self-resentment that is associated with oneself.
Andrei Rublev and his psychopaths
Photo: Getty Images
– This season, sometimes you shouted on the court: “I don’t want to play this fucking tennis anymore.” – Oh, this is childish stupidity based on emotions. It is clear that these thoughts do not exist in reality. Just stupid childish behavior.
-How do you face the moments when tennis becomes boring? – But this doesn’t happen to me. I have an understanding of reality, an understanding of how difficult any job is. Half of the people can’t find it at all and have no chance to make money. That’s why I can’t get enough of tennis from a moral point of view. I get physically tired when I play several tournaments in a row. I’m missing five or six tournaments in a row, so after three or four I usually take a week of training to clean my equipment and work.
– What does Andrei Rublev dream about now? – Reach your potential. So I feel that I have pushed myself 100%, that I have nothing to improve in tennis, that I have reached my maximum in every component of the game. Now it’s not even close to the maximum. Yes, the forehand is almost at its limit, there are small details that need to be improved, but there is definitely room for improvement in other components.
Related materials
Stories
“I must pray for her every day.” Rublev is the coolest godfather of Medvedev’s daughter
Blitz
– Three favorite Linkin Park songs? ― Crawling, In the end, What I have done.
― Danya Medvedev in two words. – Fun. Friend.
– Which godfather is Andrei Rublev? -None yet (laughs).
-How would you describe Alice? – A complete copy of Dani in everything. Very funny. She is still small, she does not understand who I am and what I am. When she sees me she gets scared and still doesn’t make contact, but that’s normal.
– Which Grand Slam tournament do you want to win the most? – At least something, at least somehow, it doesn’t matter at all (laughs). When I was a child I never dreamed of anything in particular. Otherwise, you can think of one thing, but in the end you won’t win anything.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS