Andrey Rublev will be looking to win his second title at the VTB Kremlin Cup in his native city Moscow. He won the Moscow trophy in 2019 the last time this tournament was held.
“Of course it’s a lot of pressure, which is normal. Of course I think you cannot show your best performance every week and during 11 months. It’s super tough. I think only top players have enough experience, or players, who are already a couple of years in the top 10, like Danil Medvedev, know how to handle the pressure these things better”, said Rublev.
Rublev led the ATP Tour with five titles in 2020, and won 23 matches and four consecutive titles at ATP 500 tournaments in Hamburg, St. Petersburg and Vienna in 2020 and Rotterdam 2021. He went 4-0 in singles to help Russia win the ATP Cup and won the gold medal in all-Russian mixed doubles final at 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games alongside Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova. At Grand Slam level he advanced to Grand Slam quarter finals at the US Open in 2017 and 2020, 2020 Roland Garros and 2021 Australian Open.
Rublev acknowledged that he has a lot of pressure and has had ups and downs in terms of results. The Russian star has not won a title since Rotterdam last February, but the eight-time ATP Tour titlist is currently sixth in the Race to Turin and is aiming to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the second consecutive year. He showed a consistent level throughout the Masters 1000 season reaching his first two finals in Monte-Carlo and Cincinnati and the semifinal in Miami. He beat 11-time Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters Rafael Nadal before losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Principality. In Cincinnati he beat Danil Medvedev in the semifinal claiiming the biggest win of his career. He then lost to Alexander Zverev in straight sets after just 59 minutes. Rublev lost to Frances Tiafoe in five sets at the US Open and reached the semifinal at the San Diego Open beating Diego Schwartzman.
“Some months I am playing really well and I am going really deep in tournaments. Some months I have not that great results and I am losing a bit earlier. I have still managed to be all the year Top 10, which is the most important thing. I need to work on the mental aspect. This is the main thing in my case, because the players who are better than me, they know how to manage all these moments much better than me. Game-wise since Laver Cup, I am feeling really well. I am feeling that I am playing on a great level. I have great confidence. Maybe I didn’t do that well in Indian Wells, but still I feel that I am having a great level of tennis now and that is the most important thing”, said Rublev.
At last week’s Indian Wells tournament he lost to Tommy Paul in the third round of the singles tournament and reached the doubles final alongside his compatiot Aslan Karatsev.
Rublev feels that there are some tough aspects as a tennis player, but that he still continues to enjoy tennis.
“I am really enjoying to play tennis, I am really enjoying to travel so for me mentally it’s fine. Sometimes, especially now when I just arrived from the States here in Moscow and I have to compete already tomorrow. Physically it’s tough, only because of the time difference. This is normal, this is part of our sport sometimes and we cannot do anything about it. The mental part I am okay, because I am really enjoying tennis”.
