Andrey Rublev has hailed the support he received from a former player who helped him address issues with his mental health in recent months.
The world No.9 has spoken openly about his personal struggles and recently confirmed that he was on anti-depressants for a year before deciding to stop taking them. Speaking to reporters at The Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday, Rublev described his problems as a loop he couldn’t get out of. The Russian is known for his emotional outbursts during matches which has gotten him into trouble but he is working on trying to control them.
“I was just kind of in a loop, lost with myself for a couple of years of not finding the way, not understanding what to do, what for? It sounds a bit dramatic or whatever, but like what’s the reason or purpose to live? Just completely lost with myself,” The National quoted Rublev as saying.
“And the thing is, it was not … One thing is when it’s happening one month, two months, three months, okay, maybe you still have patience or something.
“But when it’s happening one year, two years, three years, four years, five, and it’s coming for many, many years, in one moment it’s like you cannot take it anymore.”
Helping Rublev conquer his demons was former world No.1 Marat Safin who offered to speak with him shortly after last year’s Wimbledon Championships. At the grasscourt Grand Slam, he suffered a shock first round loss to Argentina’s Francisco Comesana. Rublev has lost his opening match in two out of his last three major tournaments played.
“With the help of Marat, he kind of made me understand myself or look at myself, and that was a bit of a restart from rock bottom and from there at least I was able little by little to start to move in a better direction and now I’m moving little by little in this better direction,” Rublev explained.
“I’m not happy, I’m not in a good or bad place, but I’m not feeling any more stress, I’m not feeling anxious, I’m not having depression. I’m just neutral, not happy, not bad, but at least I found the base and that’s like a beginning.”
Now he has found the right balance, the 27-year-old has won nine out of 13 matches played on the Tour so far this season. Last week he won his first title of the year in Doha by defeating Jack Draper in the final. At the tournament, he also scored wins over world No.9 Alex de Minaur and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Rublev hopes to continue his winning momentum this week in Dubai which is a tournament he won back in 2022. However, his appearance last year ended in controversy after the Russian was disqualified from his semi-final match and issued with a fine of $36,400 fine for yelling in the face of a line judge. He later won an appeal which allowed him to keep his ranking points and prize money earned at that tournament.
“I hope it’s all forgotten,” he said of the incident, “but to be honest and I don’t know if it sounds good or bad, it hasn’t bothered me. I haven’t been having nightmares or fears to play matches. It didn’t really bother me.
“Things happen sometimes. Sometimes you cross the line and they punish you fairly. Sometimes you do nothing and they punish you not fair. Other times you cross the line and no one realizes or no one punishes you. It’s life.”
One coping method Rublev has been doing is writing the word ‘responsibility’ on either his body or kit before matches. Most recently he has been writing that word on his shoes after being inspired by NBA player Steph Curry.
“In the end, it doesn’t matter what happened in your life, it’s only your fault, no one else’s, you cannot blame anything, or anyone, and I guess this is to remind myself to not complain,” he commented.
Rublev is seeded third in Dubai and will play French qualifier Quentin Halys in his opening match.
