Andrey Rublev will make the second appearance of his career at the Ntto ATP Finals. The Russian star has been been drawn in the Green Group and will play against world number 1 Novak Djokovic, 2019 ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud. Rublev does not consider himself as a favourite.
“I am not even thinking I have a chance or be a dark horse. I just want to focus on the process. What happened to Danil, Stefanos and Sasha, winning the Nitto ATP Finals was because they they proved they are top players and they had the level the be here. In my case I am thinking about the process and I am happier about how I am doing things on and off the court. It may not happen immediately, but if I keep doing what I am doing, good things will happen and I will go in a tounament”, said Rublev.
Rublev will make his debut at this year’s edition against five-time ATP Finals champion Novak Djokovic on Monday afternoon.
“I am feeling much better. In the past two weeks, I have been doing things well well inside and outside of the court. I am improving now again. I will perform my best and I hope to do well. In my case it is to keep the same plan. No just this week, but if I do things the way I have been doing over the past two and a half weeks, I will play better and the results will follow ”, said Rublev.
Rublev has won four of his eight ATP Tour titles on indoor hard court in Moscow in 2019, Vienna and St. Petersburg in 2020 and Rotterdam in 2021. He has a 48-20 match record in 2021 and reached three finals in Monte-Carlo, Cincinnati and Halle, three semifinals in Doha, Dubai and Miami and the quarter finals at the Australian Open. He also won the Olympic gold medal in the mixed doubles tournament with Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova in Tokyo last summer and reached the doubles final in Indian Wells alongside Aslan Karatsev.
Rublev led the ATP Tour with five titles in 2020, tied for tour-lead with 41 wins in 2020, and won four titles in a row at ATP 500 titles from 2020 to 2021.
“This year I prepared differently, in a more realxed way. Hopefully, I learned something from last year. I have analysed and learned from my mistakes last year. We will see if I am smart enough to do better”.
