Rublev: "There was a time when I didn't understand the meaning of living"

Andrey Rublev is going through one of the deepest processes of his career. The Russian, a long-standing member of the elite in the tennis world, has decided to rebuild his game and part of his life after going through an extremely challenging personal phase.

In an interview with L'Équipe, the Russian champion spoke candidly about his sporting limitations, emotional struggles, and the decisive influence of Marat Safin in his recovery. The current world number 5 explained that the change stemmed from a very clear conclusion: with his old style of tennis, he had reached a ceiling.

Rublev aims to become a more complete player, less reliant on his powerful forehand, and more prepared to compete against the best on the circuit in major venues. All this while battling an internal psychological struggle that, as he confessed, had made him lose the sense of life.

Rublev's Striking Statements on His Career

A Change in Game to Aim Higher

"I realized that I had reached the limit of my style and that with it, I wouldn't surpass the 5th position in the world rankings. Players better than me were much more complete. I felt that my game, which was too focused on my forehand, had reached its limit. I thought that would be enough. But I hit a wall."

"It's not that I didn't want to change before, but building your game takes years. Improving even a small percentage in a shot takes months. It's good to change something in practice, when you're calm and serene, but it's harder to trust that shot in a match, with stress."

"What will you do at a crucial moment: try your new approach, with which you're unsure, or stick to what you know and what has worked so well for you in the past? It takes a great mental effort to abandon the game you've built over so many years, which has brought you many results, and trust in a new identity that's still under construction. You have to accept that, because of that, you might lose initially. Accepting defeat is difficult. But I feel ready to do it."

Marat Safin's Influence on His Evolution

"I talk a lot with Marat; he gives me his opinion and shares his experiences to help me install this new software. It gives me peace of mind. Sometimes it's better not to overthink things, otherwise, you get entangled and collapse. I'm trying to follow my volleys at the net more precisely. With my power, I have plenty of volleys I can play from a favorable position. Before, I only attempted them when I was 100% sure I could finish the point. Now, I do it even when the odds are 70-30, sometimes 50-50."

"What really helped me was Marat. You know when you open a car's hood to see what's inside? Well, he did the same with my brain. He opened my skull, and many answers to my questions appeared. We went deeper and deeper. Before that, I had tried several therapies, different things without which I wouldn't have turned to Marat. All of that made me feel much better."

The Psychological Battle Behind His New Tennis

"When I try, and it doesn't work, it frustrates me or mentally exhausts me. Sometimes I'm a bit lost. I arrive at the wrong time, don't know when to change direction. Sometimes I feel like I'm not the one playing or that I'm imitating someone else. It turns into a psychological battle with myself."

"But I enjoy doing things I hadn't done before. It turns into a game. In Doha and Dubai, I managed to integrate some new elements quite freely. In Indian Wells and Miami, I overthought things again. I didn't have enough confidence in my new game, got stuck, and relapsed into my old tennis style."

Rublev and His Toughest Moment Off the Court

"It wasn't something specific to tennis. I couldn't find meaning in life in general. I didn't enjoy anything anymore. I didn't understand the point of living. Every day was the same. It sounds dramatic put that way, and it's hard for me to describe exactly what I felt because I no longer feel it. But I had hit rock bottom, was completely lost, shattered. Today, I'm much better."

The Origin of His Self-Toughness

"No, as a child, I loved tennis. For a long time, I thought I had chosen to play tennis. But if you asked me now, I would say I don't know. My parents wanted me to play, and it turned out I loved it, but I don't know how they would have reacted if I had told them I didn't want to. I tried many sports, and tennis was the only one that allowed me to see my mom and my grandfather, who were coaches at the club where I trained. And there were plenty of kids my age."

"How did I become so tough on myself on the court? It comes from my upbringing. It was a gradual thing. I was already like that at 10 or 11 years old. Every time I lost, it was a tragedy. When that becomes your daily routine for ten or fifteen years, you sink deeper and deeper until you destroy yourself. It's like planting a seed; the plant will grow continuously. The goal is to uproot it entirely and eliminate this cancer."

The statements of Andrey Rublev reflect the significant transformation process the Russian is undergoing both on and off the court. Beyond the results, the Russian champion seeks to rebuild himself as a player and as a person, supported by the experience of Marat Safin and a less emotionally destructive vision of tennis. His evolution, both technically and mentally, will be one of the most closely followed stories on the ATP circuit in the coming months.