Andrey Rublev says he needs to improve both his on-court mentality and areas of his physical game if he wants to reach new heights at Grand Slam events.
The world No.8 is one of the most decorated players on the ATP Tour this season with three titles. Putting him on level footing with Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz who have also won the same amount of trophies. Overall the 24-year-old has claimed 11 titles in his career and has won more than 200 matches on the Tour.
Rublev has also achieved moderate success when it comes to playing in the Grand Slams. He has reached the quarter-finals four times out of 18 main draw appearances. At the French Open he has so far only managed to win four matches with all of those occurring in 2020. In contrast, he has scored 13 wins at the US Open where he made his slam debut back in 2015.
Breakdown of Rublev’s Grand Slam results
| Tournament | Best result | win-loss | Main draw appearances |
| AUS Open | QF – 2021 | 12-6 | 6 |
| FRA Open | QF – 2020 | 4-3 | 3 |
| Wimbledon | R4 – 2021 | 5-3 | 3 |
| US Open | QF – 2017, 2020 | 13-6 | 6 |
During an interview with Tennis Majors Rublev says he is trying to become ‘more professional’ and erase his at times animated behaviour on the court in order to reach new milestones, especially when it comes to playing in major events. Just three out of his 15 wins over top 10 players occurred at a Grand Slam.
“Sometimes I watch videos and I think ‘what am I doing?’ I am trying to eradicate those things from my game. I want to be more professional and more positive on the court. I feel like that is what I am missing in order to reach the next level.” Said Rublev.
“I cannot allow myself to waste time and energy on the nonsense I sometimes do, it is better to focus on the game itself and to fight for every ball.” He added.
Rublev has already proven himself to be a top player. Last season he won 37 hard court matches on the ATP Tour which was the fourth-highest tally after Jannik Sinner (39), Alexander Zverev (41) and Daniil Medvedev (51). The year prior he achieved a tied tour-leading 41 victories after winning five titles.
Nevertheless, the Russian knows better than anybody he needs to improve further. Admitting that sometimes nerves get the better of him during matches.
“I need to develop a better feel so that I can return more balls in the court, slicing for instance. Some players do not play aggressively, but they give you balls that are pretty difficult to attack – sometimes, I lack those kinds of shots in my game,” he explains.
“Furthermore, I need to have more confidence coming forward. There are a lot of rallies where I get a shorter ball and I do not come to the net because I am uncertain. Or I do come, but you can see I do not feel that comfortable. I need to break that barrier in my head because I feel I can get more points that way.
“Also, I need for my second serve to be faster. It would be a huge advantage, since it would be harder to break me. In part, that is mental as well, because in practice I hit second serves harder and I rarely make double faults. But in the match, when I feel pressure, sometimes I am afraid to go for it, particularly when it is 30–30 or break point or advantage. Then I just push the ball in order to start the point. I need to say to myself ‘just do it’. “
Rublev says his goal for the remainder of the year is to improve on the areas which he has highlighted but has no target in terms of results he wants to achieve.
So far in 2022 Rublev has won 23 out of 28 matches played. On Sunday he won the Serbian Open by defeating Novak Djokovic in three sets. That was the first time he has beaten a current world No.1 player.
