Davis Cup: Andrey Rublev - Over 100 matches and (not) a bit tired
Germany meets Russia in the Davis Cup semi-finals. The first individual game could be the key encounter. Because Andrey Rublev has so far left an exhausted impression in Madrid.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Dec 03, 2021, 08:04 am
Andrey Rublev has played no fewer than 105 matches so far in this tennis year 2021 - including double appearances. No wonder then that the fifth in the world rankings at the last tournament of the year - the Davis Cup finals - seems exhausted and drained. The fact that Rublev had to go over three sets in all of his five games in Madrid shouldn't have been too conducive to the 24-year-old's physical condition either.
In his individual games against Roberto Quiroz (Ecuador), Feliciano Lopez (Spain) and Elias Ymer (Sweden) Rublev gave the second set, against Lopez he even left the place in the Caja Magica as a loser. "You start to play less aggressively. You start to be a little more devious. You start to think more and when you think more, you have more problems," Rublev said of this statistic.
While the Russian top player Daniil Medvedev had hardly any problems at this year's Davis Cup so far, Rublev looked anything but stable. In this circumstance, the German Davis Cup team should also see its opportunity, the Russian team boss Shamil Tarpischev seems to trust the 24-year-old despite his apparent fatigue. Aslan Karatsev and Karen Khachanov have not yet played in the singles.
Who the German captain Michael Kohlmann will send into the race against Rublev on Saturday is currently not foreseeable. Dominik Koepfer has never been on the court against Rublev, Peter Gojowczyk already five times (3: 2 in head to head). It seems clear: Even the first game between the German number two and Rublev should be the key game given Medvedev's current form.