Andrey Rublev has booked his spot at the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time in his career after a dream season, in which he won five titles on different surfaces (indoors, outdoors, clay and hard court).
Rublev became the first player since Dominik Hrbaty in 2004 to win back-to-back titles in Doha and Adelaide in the first two weeks of the season. Since the ATP Tour resumed last August after the lockdown Rublev has three titles (one on clay in Hamburg and two indoors in St.Petersburg and Vienna and reached two back-to-back finals at the US Open and Roland Garros.
Rublev will make his debut in the ATP Finals after taking part in the first two editions of the Next Gen Finals in Milan. He finished runner-up to Hyeon Chung in 2017 and lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinal in 2018.
“Of course, I am feeling nervous. It is my first time. You are with all the best players here and of course, you feel nervous. This is a normal thing because we are all humans. This is the moment we are playing for and we are working for. I am really grateful for everything that I am experiencing, for everything that I have been through”.
Rublev is grateful to his team for the support over the years.
“I am really for the team that I have and for the friends that are around me, because they support me a lot. We have the same vision and they give me a lot of energy so, in the end, I am where I am today because of them. We have the same vision and they give me a lot of energy, so in the end, I am where I am today because of them. I have been working really hard. With all the support around me, it gives me double energy and double motivation. I am not alone and when you are not alone it is much easier and you are much stronger”.
Rublev has been drawn in the same Group London 2020 as 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal., 2019 ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas and 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem. Rublev will clash against Nadal for the second time in his career on Sunday evening in the London O2 Arena.
Nadal beat Rublev in their only head-to-head match at the 2017 US Open, when the Russian player was 19 years old. Rublev is 2-6 in his eight head-to-head matches against Tsitsipas. In their two matches played in 2020 Rublev beat Tsitsipas in three sets in the Hamburg final. Tsitsipas beat Rublev in the Roland Garros quarter finals in three sets.
The Moscow-native is tied 2-2 in his four head-to-head matches against Dominic Thiem, but he won their past two clashes in the Hamburg quarter final in 2019 and in the Vienna quarter final in 2020.
Rublev could become the third tournament debutante to win the title in the past three editions after Grigor Dimitrov in 2018 and Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2019. “I am looking forward to the match. He is one of the best players in the history of tennis, so I have nothing to lose. I will go there to enjoy. All the pressure will be on him and in the end, we will see what is going to happen. I will try to do my best and we will see what happens. All of the matches are really tough. It is the best players in the world competing each against the other. Every match is so tough. It’s so interesting. I played with Dominic a couple of times. I won some matches and I lost some matches against them, so it is going to be fun. It is going to be really interesting”, said Rublev.