“Probably the next Grand Slam quarter-final should be the good one” – Rublev

Andrey Rublev, one of the most likeable and popular players on the current tennis circuit, has a record against his name that he would rather not have. The Russian is the first player in tennis history to lose his first nine Grand Slam quarter-finals.

The 26-year-old finally claimed his first ATP Masters Series title in 2023, winning the Monte-Carlo Masters in April but has yet to get over the Grand Slam quarter-final bump. With an 0-9 record, he hopes now that he will play a little but looser the 10th time around which may help him get that monkey off his back.

“I didn’t even know that I had 0-9 in quarter-finals and that I’m the only player who had this stat, I didn’t know, but it made me smile,” Rublev told The National on the sidelines of the ongoing World Tennis League in Abu Dhabi. “That at least somewhere I’m the first one. It’s tough to do if you have nine chances, not to make not and it made me feel a bit more loose or better inside, that at least one out of 10 I should make it. So probably the next quarter-final should be the good one. I’m not relaxed about it but in this case I see it in a positive way.”

If Rafa keeps playing and winning when he comes back, for sure Novak will keep playing until the end.

Andrey Rublev

While Rublev hoping to get to a first Grand Slam semi-final will be among the key plotlines that tennis fans will follow in 2024, one of the biggest ones will centre around 22-time Major champion Rafael Nadal’s return to the tour in Brisbane after almost a year on the sidelines due to injury.

While many including Nadal himself, are unsure about how the comeback will unfold, Rublev, for one, says he would not be surprised at all if Nadal is able to return to the top level after such a lengthy injury lay-off at this stage of his career.

“I’m not surprised because I think he and Novak (Djokovic), those kind of players who are playing to leave a mark in the history of tennis; while Novak is still playing I think Rafa will try until the end to play and try to win slams,” Rublev said. “And the same goes for Novak. If Rafa keeps playing and winning when he comes back, for sure Novak will keep playing until the end. They are playing for different things. We don’t know yet (where his level will be at), but how many times people would say, not just about Rafa, about all those three players, every time they were injured or down and losing matches everybody was saying, ‘Now the time of Roger or time of Rafa or time of Novak, is coming to an end’ and they always proved them wrong. So I will not be surprised if he will prove it again and wins more slams.”

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