Andrey Rublev (Image credit: X)
- ALMATY: Andrey Rublev has spent much of his career trying to get better at being Andrey Rublev. Now, the mercurial Russian, whose on-court meltdowns are almost as well chronicled as his title wins, is attempting to rewrite the script that took him to world No.
At 28, he is trying to become a different player. 22, falling outside the top 20 for the first time since Jan 2020. For a player who finished each season inside the top 10 from 2020 to 2024, the decline is striking. Yet, after 10 Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances without advancing to a semifinal, Rublev has come to a realisation — to build something new, he must first be willing to break down what got him here. 4 seed at the Almaty Open, an ATP 250 event. 5 in the world for something else that you don’t really trust yet. Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news , check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule .
“Because I know what I’m capable of.
“It’s not easy to change something that you know for all your life,” said Rublev, the No. “From the past, before Marat, I was very depressed, and taking antidepressant pills to not feel depression,” he says. It was there, he says, that he reached a point at which he could no longer continue as he had been. “I choose to try to fix it,” he said. “When you see players like Sasha (Zverev) or Daniil (Medvedev), when they’re doing something good, it gives a clear signal that I can do it as well,” he says.
Rublev has slipped to No. “It’s not easy to switch that, what brought you to No. The forehand, Rublev’s biggest weapon, is a useful example. It’s a shot he could turn to under pressure almost without thinking. It is a striking answer from a player whose intensity has long been one of the defining features of his tennis. He pauses, taking a deep breath, before describing how low he had felt. Join conversation Share your thoughts in the comments Be respectful · TOI community guidelines “Basically, it was a bit of drama that was happening to me, and I didn’t know how to escape. I was at the bottom of my darkest days. He faced a choice, to remain trapped in the same patterns or to try, finally, to do something about them. Rublev is not short of reminders that reinvention is possible. If he can do it, I can find a way as well. Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.
“To be just top 30 for the next five-six years, for me, it makes no difference. For the past 18 months, Rublev has been working with former world No. 1 Marat Safin, a partnership that has pushed the 28-year-old to address mental and emotional struggles that have led him to hurt himself physically on court.
“I’m trying to change, on and off the court, mentally, things that have become a habit, that have already taken me to the limit, with what I could do with that,” he says, eyes fixed on the table before him. “Maybe it’s going to make the second part of my career better than my first part, or maybe not,” he says, lifting his gaze. “With the game I used to have, it will go down little by little until I cannot play anymore,” he says. I’m much more in peace with myself,” he says.
“Now, it’s the second part of (my) career where I try to do something different completely. There is no guarantee the experiment will work. Rublev knows that as well as anyone. “But at least I know I did something, I gave myself a chance. Asked what has changed most since working with Safin, Rublev does not begin with tactics or results. “I’m enjoying much more the life.