Andrey Rublev was once a staple in the top 10 of the ATP tour, and ironically, as his ranking has slipped a bit over the last year or so, his emotional outbursts have been curbed too. He still gets angry at himself, and maybe not enough.
Rublev has always been the kind of player who needed to have an internal fire just ready to explode. That can overcome him at times, but otherwise, he can tend to be lethargic. The trick is playing at a high level while not taking any anger out on himself.
In the first set of his opening match at the Nordea Open, Rublev certainly had opportunities to have his emotions get the better of him. Most of the games were tight, with potential break-point chances unfolding. To make matters more tense, each player was able to hold, which led to a tie-break in which his opponent, Andrea Pellegrino, jumped out to a mini-break lead.
Andrey Rublev outlasts Andrea Pellegrino at the Nordea Open
Instead of suffering a meltdown, however, Rublev stayed poised and rushed back to take the breaker 7-3. Pellegrino is 29 years old and arguably playing the best tennis of his career, but he couldn't push past the Russian in the opening set, and that appeared to make any comeback attempt unlikely.
Still, the second set unfolded like the first. Rublev never faced a break point, and neither did the Italian. The set appeared headed for its own tie-break, one that could go either way.
Both Rublev and Pellegrino appear to be at their best on clay courts, like the ones that the Nordea Open is played on. An even match should have been expected, so at least the tennis fans in Sweden were getting their money's worth. The hope was simply that Andrey Rublev would keep his poise and not have an outburst.
In the second set tie-break, Rublev had a 4-2 lead, but missed a volley that gave Pellegrino a fighting chance at a comeback. However, Rublev stole the next point with a brilliant groundstroke, and he was back up the mini-break.
The Russian led the breaker 6-4 with the set and match on his racket, but he couldn't finish the opportunity easily. Pellegrino hit a wicked forehand winner to get back on serve. After Rublev missed a winner, Pellegrino served out the set to even the match. At the end of the tie-break, Rublev smashed his racket on the ground.
To his credit, in the third set with Pellegrino serving at 1-2, and after Rublev had a couple of break points, the Italian hit a serve that the Russian thought went long (it didn't). He complained for a bit to the umpire, but didn't go overboard. Instead, he resumed the game and did eventually get the break. He then held easily to get to 4-1, and the outcome of the match appeared certain.
Rublev took the final set 6-3 and got a double win by not letting his emotions override his focus on what was happening across the net from him.
Andrey Rublev will next play the winner of the Jesper de Jong and Sebastian Baez match in the quarterfinals. Baez is a clay-court specialist too and will be a tough out for de Jong, and in his next match, should he make it that far.
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