Andrey Rublev says he hopes ‘sooner or later’ he will return back to his best form after crashing out of the Madrid Masters on Sunday.
Rublev, who was the defending champion in the Spanish capital, suffered a 6-4, 0-6, 6-4, loss to Alexander Bublik. A player who has also previously beaten him on grass in Halle (2003) and on a hardcourt in Dubai (2024). After racing through the second set in just 23 minutes to level his latest match in Madrid, the Russian got broken at the start of the decider and was unable to break back which cost him the victory.
“I didn’t play very well in the first set. Sasha (Bublik) started to play quite well, and that was it – he made one break,” Rublev told championat about his latest loss.
“I didn’t play very well, one game went badly – and he won the set.
“The second set – on the contrary, he had a chance, I was able to win back. As soon as I had the chance, I won back and took the lead, and Sasha immediately started to play more inattentively, and I played carefully until the end, trying not to relax. Just played every rally, as if every rally was important, and in the end, I managed to win 6-0.
“In the third set, the very first game went well for him and badly for me. He played very well at 30-all, hitting a clean sweep into the back line and that’s it. And when you lose with a break here in Madrid, at a height (high altitude), with a serve like Sasha serves, it’s hard to do anything.
“I had a few opportunities, but he played everything well.”
So far this season, Rublev has only managed to win one match at a Masters event which was against Gael Monfils in Monte Carlo. Overall, he has won 11 out of 21 Tour-level matches in 2025 with his best performance being at the Doha Open where he claimed the title.
As a result of his loss to Bublik, the 27-year-old will exit the ATP Top 15 for the first time since 2020. He has been continuously ranked inside the top 10 since September 2022, which is a period of 138 weeks. Out of active players on the men’s Tour, only Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz have a longer active streak in the top 10.
“Of course, it is probably good when you have some high seeding and you will not play with (against) the first eight until the quarterfinals,” said Rublev.
“But now I have found myself in the position of most other players, not those eight who are in the top 8. All players go through this, so this is not the first time.”
Rublev hopes to get himself back on track at the Italian Open where he lost in the third round last year.
“I’m not doing well in terms of results, but I’m trying to focus on the process and I hope that sooner or later everything will be fine,” he concluded.
This year is the first time since 2013 that the defending men’s champion at the Madrid Open has failed to reach the quarter-finals.
