When losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the ATP Finals, Andrey Rublev admitted that he was angry and wanted to get back up, so he struck his knee six times. Rublev faced Alcaraz in his second group-stage match at the ATP Finals on November 15.
Rublev lost his serve in the opening game of the second set after losing a close first set. That was when Rublev lost all patience and became extremely frustrated, cutting himself with six racket blows to his knee in a fit of rage.
Rublev discussed this during a conversation and said: “I’m very selective – it’s hard for me to find rackets that I like. Even if they are the same, out of 15 rackets only two or three will suit me. Because of this, I feel sorry for hitting them on the court again, because if they break, then I have to look for them again. And that can take a long time, so I hit the knees and not the court.”
He further added: “Secondly, sometimes I have such strong resentment towards myself that I no longer know what else to do to give myself a sign that it’s time to wake up. At such moments, I kind of try to tell myself, ‘Wake up! Half the match has already passed and you haven’t done anything. All this leads to this outburst of anger. And immediately after this outburst I feel guilty because I am again stepping on the same racket.”
Andrey Rublev suffered an extraordinary meltdown at the ATP Finals in which he drew blood from his own leg by hitting his racket against it six times
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— Times Sport (@TimesSport) November 15, 2023
Andrey Rublev in 2023
Currently the world no.5 (career-high), the Russian played his last match on the 17th of November when he was overcome by world no.7 Alexander Zverev 6-4 6-4 in the round robin in the Nitto ATP Finals (draw).
During this season Rublev owns an overall 56-26 record. Rublev has won 2 titles in 2023 in Monte-Carlo and Bastad. Andrey reached the final in Dubai, Banja Luka, Halle and Shanghai.
