Andrey Rublev celebrated with a mixture of happiness and relief his consecration in the Madrid Masters 1000, the second of his career in the most important category on the circuit, behind the Grand Slam. And not only because the enormous week that he lived in the Magic Box allowed him to break a negative streak of four defeats in a row and renewed his confidence. It is that the victory in three sets against Very happy Auger It was, in his own words, “a miracle” that was possible thanks to the doctors and the injections they gave him.
“Inside me, there is only medication”he confessed shortly after the celebration in the stadium Manolo Santana in an interview with a couple of Spanish media. “Winning this title was a miracle. Normally I’m a negative guy, but this time I’m most proud of myself.”
The Russian, who thanks to the victory climbed to sixth place in the ranking, said that after his first games in Madrid, in which he felt playing very well, he contracted a virus from which he was never able to recover. And that for Sunday’s duel against the Canadian, he had anesthetized a toe, which was swollen.
“My toe swelled and became twice as big, so the pressure went to the bone. I couldn’t even put my foot in the shoe. The sensation was similar to something that is broken. That’s why they gave me anesthesia, so that it wouldn’t break.” At least I was able to play without thinking about it,” Rublev explained.
And he continued: “I’m still sick. Tomorrow (this Monday) I’m going to go to the hospital in Madrid to see what’s wrong with me. I haven’t gotten better for nine days and it’s not normal. When I get sick it lasts three or four days, no more. Never. I felt the worst in my life. I don’t know if it’s tonsils or what. The only thing I can say is that I can’t swallow because my throat is swollen. I had to eat baby food. I won because of all the injections. There is only medication inside me.”
Rublev, who had won his first Masters 1000 last year in MontecarloHe also assured that the illness had a positive side: it allowed him to keep his temper under control, which usually gets him into trouble in games. It had happened to him at the beginning of March in Dubai, when he was disqualified in the semis accused of insulting a linesman in Russian; Although after filing an appeal, the ATP determined that the tournament supervisor’s interpretation of what happened had been erroneous and returned the points and prize money he had accumulated up to that round.
“I didn’t have the energy to do anything other than one thing, which in this case was playing tennis. I didn’t have the strength to say come on, to complain, to do anything… Being sick I can say that in some way it helped me this time “said the Russian.
Rublev landed in the Spanish capital with a streak of four consecutive defeats, in his second appearance in Indian Wells and in their debuts in Miami, Montecarlo y Barcelona. But in the Magic Box -where last year he had established himself in doubles with his compatriot Karen Khachanov- changed history.
“I feel relief and happiness,” Rublev acknowledged. Photo Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP
He reached the final with solid victories against Facundo Bagnis, Alexander Davidovich Fokina, Tallon Greek track, Carlos Alcaraz (top favorite and against whom he achieved his first victory against a top 3 since the end of 2022) and Taylor Fritz. At the start of the duel against Auger Aliassime he seemed disconnected and was very quickly 1-4 down. Only after that fifth game did he feel like he could start competing.
“After that game I started to feel a little better in terms of health, I relaxed a little and was able to push. And I started to play a little better,” said the player who won 4-6, 7-5, 7- 5. “I feel happy, I feel relief, happiness. I couldn’t have done better in this last week and a half.”
Rublev plans to play now in the Rome Masters 1000, where they must defend the 90 points they achieved last year by reaching the round of 16. As fourth seed (due to the losses of Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz), would debut in the second round against the winner of the clash between the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori and the American Marcos Giron. Will he recover in time to play in the Foro Itálico?
2024-05-06 19:36:01
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