Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev believes every Grand Slam should have the same scoring format after coming through an epic first round encounter at the French Open on Tuesday.
The 13th seed battled back from two sets down to oust Sam Querrey 6-7(5), 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4, 6-3, after more than three hours of play. Making it the first time the 22-year-old has ever done so in a best-of-five match. Rublev’s victory occurred just two days after he won the German Open by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final but he was far from satisfied with his latest performance.
“There is a long way to improve, even if we take the match today,” he said.
“My attitude was really horrible. If I want to improve and I want to compete on a good level, this is not acceptable. I need to change it.”
Rublev’s five-set epic is the latest to take place at Roland Garros this year. In the first round of the men’s draw 12 matches went the full distance with the most high-profile involving Italy’s Lorenzo Giustino who played for six hours and five minutes in what was the second longest match to ever take place at Roland Garros. The clay court major is the only Grand Slam that doesn’t cap the final set. At Wimbledon a tiebreak is played when the score is 12-12, in New York it occurs at 6-6 and at the Australian Open the deciding tiebreak is the first to 10 points instead of six.
“They should be the same, all of them, in my opinion,” Rublev commented on the different scoring formats.
“I would say the best option is here (at Roland Garros) or like Wimbledon. I think maybe Wimbledon is the best option when they play a tiebreak at 12-All because in the end they give you one extra set and if it’s not enough to find a champion, you play a tiebreak.”
Some critics have said that men’s matches need to be shortened in order to make the game more appealing to a new demographic. However, Rublev disagrees as he argues that playing in long clashes actually motivates him more.
“In my opinion they shouldn’t do fifth set tiebreak because these matches are something that you will remember for a while,” he said.
“It’s something that you will think ‘now I understand why I was working so hard.’”
“I understand why I was working and doing all these tough exercises during my practices. You feel even more proud of yourself.”
The next test for the world No.12 will be Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round of the French Open.
