Andrey Rublev is in action at the Canadian Open after skipping the Olympic Games.
Andrey Rublev has opened up on his decision to snub the Olympic Games despite being a gold medallist.
The world No. 8 teamed up with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to win the mixed doubles event in Tokyo just three years ago.
But this time around, he opted against going to Paris in favour of playing some smaller ATP 250 events. And Rublev has now admitted that his on-court meltdowns played a part.
Rublev has had a largely rocky season. He was defaulted from the Dubai Championships in February but won his second Masters 1000 title in Madrid a few months later while battling an illness.
Since then, the Russian has suffered early exits at back-to-back Grand Slams, crashing out in the third round of the French Open and losing his opener at Wimbledon. In both matches, Rublev struggled to control his frustrations, screaming and smashing rackets during his outbursts.
The 26-year-old has now explained that his poor results and tempers prompted him to skip the Olympics. “I didn’t play Olympic Games we because we felt that mentally I wasn’t ready to play,” Rublev told Tennis Channel.
Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won gold in Tokyo
“Because my results, last results, and the way I was behaving. So we decided, Okay, let’s give priority to my career, singles, we take time off to try and recover me a bit mentally. And then we play some ATP 250s and then we go earlier to America to prepare to be much more ready for Montreal. And then I won the match so that’s the most important thing.”
Rublev reached the semi-final in Umag and the quarters in Washington instead of competing in Paris. And he is off to a winning start at the Canadian Open, where he beat Tomas Etcheverry in his first match.
Rublev went down an early break but recovered to win 7-6(3) 6-2 and joked that he should have just gone to the Olympics if he was going to lose early. He added: “In one moment in my head, when I was losing I was thinking, I was trying to come earlier here to be more prepared because other players are coming from the Olympics.
Andrey Rublev admitted that he needed to work on his mental side
“In the end, it doesn’t change anything because they are coming from the Olympics and they are winning and I am losing. I should [have gone] also to play in the Olympics. That was, in one moment, in my head.”
Rublev will now face Brandon Nakashima as he attempts to build on his deep runs on the ATP Tour in the last couple of weeks. With several players skipping the Canadian Open off the back of the Olympics, the Russian is the fifth seed in Montreal.
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