Andrey Rublev - "Not up to the pressure"
Andrey Rublev took stock of his first appearance at the ATP Finals in an interview with a little distance.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Nov 30, 2020, 09:11 am
Actually, Andrey Rublev had caught the group that was more promising for him at the ATP Finals in London: Yes, there was Rafael Nadal , against whom he had lost the first encounter at the US Open a few years ago without a chance. But against both Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem , Rublev experienced success in the 2020 season. In the other group, on the other hand, he would have faced Alexander Zverev (0: 4), Daniil Medvedev (0: 3) and Novak Djokovic , against whom he has never played.
The start against Nadal was disappointing for Rublev with the 3: 6 and 4: 6. “In this match, I couldn't take the pressure. I knew I had a good season and a high level of play. I wanted to show that I can fight with players like Nadal. "
Missed match point against Tsitsipas
That worked much better in the second appearance against Stefanos Tsitsipas - until the match point in the tie-break of the third set, in which Rublev produced a double fault. “If I had won the match against Tsitsipas, maybe the semi-finals would have been possible. Of course, nobody knows how things would have turned out. But if you look at it superficially, then one point was not good enough. "
What remains for Andrey Rublev are the success against Dominic Thiem in the O2 Arena, which was worth 200 points for the ATP world rankings. And the five tournament victories in the season that has just ended.
Marat Safin is not impressed
Marat Safin, the last Russian player to make it to number one in the world rankings, was not particularly impressed by his compatriot's season. "Do Andrey's titles mean anything this year? To be completely honest: They mean nothing. He won five tournaments, but they weren't masters. In order to reach the top of the world, Rublev had to play better at the Garnd Slam events In fact, Andrey Rublev reached the quarterfinals at both the US Open and Roland Garros - but lost to Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.