Andrey Rublev, surprising words about Jannik Sinner

The dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz makes one’s wrists shake: the two stars have dominated the circuit for the past two years, winning the last nine Slams and capturing the last 20 tournaments they have both participated in. If Alcaraz earlier this year hit his seventh Slam at just 22 years old, the Blue responded by winning the Sunshine Double without losing a set and then repeating himself by conquering Monte Carlo for the first time.

Andrey Rublev in an interview with Spaziotennis.com, however, explained that the “Sincaraz” is not discouraging him, on the contrary, it is a source of continuous motivation: “It is not affecting me negatively, on the contrary. It gives me the conviction that certain results are attainable. They give me hope: if they succeeded so early, it means that with the right approach and the right mentality you don’t have to wait years to be at that level.”

For Rublev it’s all about mental strength: “The difference is that they just play tennis, no matter the score or the round. I, sometimes, play tennis and sometimes I hope: I hope to make the point, I hope the other person makes a mistake or double fault. I play with thoughts, they play tennis. They have their thoughts, too, but they overcome them.”

Rublev is trying to climb back up the rankings after last season’s difficulties: the first goal is to return to the Top 10. “New coach Marat Safin gave me a lot of advice that cannot be summarized in a minute. The main point is simply … ‘let go.’ I learned that you can’t control everything. Sometimes you feel amazing and you lose, other times you feel like a disaster and you get amazing results. You don’t have to focus on the specific week, just on doing your own thing-the results will come.”