Rublev reflects on 2024: “I learned lessons that helped me grow up. I am more mature”
The Russian says he thinks he will behave “less like a kid” in future
Andrey Rublev, ATP Finals 2024 – © EPhotopress/Shutterstock/SIPA
There were times in 2024 when Andrey Rublev gave his fans – and anyone watching – cause for concern. The Russian’s meltdowns on court were more frequent and more brutal than in the past, with his French Open suffering looking more like a call for help.
At the time, Rublev vowed to be better, to try to not let it happen again and on Thursday, the world No 8 said he felt he had matured and believes his meltdowns will be fewer and further between in the future.
“If we talk outside the court, the tennis this season, gave me a lot of lessons that I learned and that made me grow up, to be more mature and to see the things from a different angle that I never saw before,” he told Tennis Majors on the eve of the UTS Grand Final in London. “So I’m looking (ahead) very excited how it will affect my tennis next season.
“Everything is related. The way I was behaving on court, it was the things that I was behaving outside the court. Learning, it means that I start behave less like a kid, so now I behave a bit more like a mature, grown man, let’s put it this way. Still, there is many parts I’m still be having like a kid, but less, after all the years that I have, after this year, those situations make me stop to act like a kid, like I was doing always before.”
Consulting with psychologists
Rublev said he had taken help from every area he could
“I’m using psychologists, everything that is possible,” he said. “Different things, besides psychologists, myself, trying to learn a lot of things, trying to study those things, why and how the life works in general, and because I was kind of learning those things, and then many things I start to understand.”
Considering his emotional issues on the court, 2024 was not a bad year for Rublev, even if his Grand Slam efforts were relatively disappointing. He reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, but lost in the third round at Roland-Garros, went out in round one at Wimbledon and then fell in the fourth round at the US Open.
All about mindset in 2025
But despite those disappointments, Rublev won two more ATP Tour titles, qualified for the ATP Finals and finished the year ranked No 8.
“If we talk about tennis, then obviously it this season was a lot of up and down, so might look not that great, but in the end, I end up finishing top eight, which is amazing,” he said. “I hope all my worst seasons end up like this, because there is many players who had amazing season and they finished 12 in the world, 15 in the world, and they had amazing season.”
The knowledge that he can still finish in the top 10 after an up and down season, and the lessons learned means that Rublev will go into 2025 with confidence, that his best tennis is yet to come, if he can focus on one thing above all.
“It’s mindset,” he said. “My mindset, the way I feel outside the court. Because the way you feel outside the sport is the way you are going to feel inside the court. Everything is connected. Doesn’t matter. You cannot have, let’s say, amazing (fmindset) here and so so there. In the end, in the long term, it will equalise everything, and you will feel so, so, everywhere. If you feel fine with yourself, then everything, the rest, will take care of itself. “
Rublev gunning for Zeus Trophy
Rublev has already begun his pre-season training and said the UTS Grand Final fits in nicely to his preparations for the new year.
“It’s an exhibition tournament, but because of the format, it fits well for the kind of endurance practice, because it’s a high intensity and your heart rate is very high during the game,” he said.
“So it’s like a normal endurance practice. I was doing, let’s say, last week, 30-40 minutes, that you are doing with a high heart rate. And here is perfect to continue to do it, but in a more competitive way, more real to tennis, and more fun. Because here you don’t think about practice. You think here about how to win.”
