Andrey Rublev about the 15th title in his career and the upcoming Australian Open

On Sunday, in the finals of the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open, an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) 250 category tournament with a prize fund of $660 thousand— Andrey Rublev beat Finn Emil Ruusuvuori in two sets, winning his 15th career title. In an interview with a Kommersant correspondent Evgeniy Fedyakov The fifth number one in the world ranking commented on his victory, spoke about preparations for the current season and assessed the balance of power before the start of the Australian Open.

— In December you took part in several exhibition tournaments. How long did your vacation last?

— Yes, there were simply no holidays as such. I took a break, which lasted about a week. Nothing special happened during this time. I was at home and saw my family.

— Was your preparation for this season any different from previous years?

— This year I did pre-season for the first time in a hot climate, more precisely in Dubai. But overall it wasn’t much different from what I had to do before. As usual, I worked a lot on those elements of tennis that I considered necessary to improve. Except that my fitness was a little different, because I changed my physical training coach.

— Recently in Dubai, the team, which besides you included Daniil Medvedev, Mirra Andreeva and Russian-American Sofia Kenin, won the World Tennis League. Did you perceive this tournament as a purely training tournament or did you take it quite seriously?

– Of course, it was an exhibition tournament, but we wanted to win. Especially after we managed to reach the finals.

— Is this your first time in Hong Kong?

– Yes. Conditions there, of course, differed from Australian ones, but not critically. It’s just as warm there and the coverage is about the same. Although no two courts are the same. Differences in terms of ball bounce exist always and everywhere.

— This tournament was held for the first time since 2002. Were you satisfied with its organization?

– Definitely. I was received very well in Hong Kong. I liked the city itself, the organization of the tournament was great. By the way, I didn’t know that the last tennis player to win there before me was Juan Carlos Ferrero, the current coach of Carlos Alcaraz. The organizers told me about this.

— In the final against Emil Ruusuvuori, you never lost your serve. Was it your good knowledge of the opponent, whom you were dealing with not for the first time, that allowed you to feel so confident in the decisive match, or something else?

– Yes, everything just worked out well. You never know in advance how the game will go. There are matches in which you serve poorly, and in general you play poorly, but nevertheless your opponent cannot make a single break. This is largely a matter of chance. Another thing is that when you confidently hold your serve, it gives you peace of mind. On Sunday that was the case.

— Over the past few years, you have started the seasons differently. For example, in January 2020, they won two titles in a row and lost at the Australian Open in the fourth round, and last year they suffered two defeats, but reached the quarter finals in Melbourne. Does this mean that the results of the tournaments that precede the Australian Championship do not in any way affect its results?

— My experience suggests that such things are a matter of chance. A lot depends on how things are going at that particular moment. Sometimes you feel confident, play great, but lose early. But it happens the other way around: starting a tournament with bad feelings, you go quite far through the bracket. Therefore, the main thing is to do everything that depends on you, and then how things turn out.

— How do you see the balance of power before the start of the Australian Open? Do you still consider Novak Djokovic, who seems to have been injured, to be the main favorite?

– I don’t think about it. There are a lot of favorites. Djokovic, Alcaraz, Medvedev, Sinner, Zverev, Tsitsipas. There are other guys who are capable of a lot in Australia. We’ll see how everything turns out in three weeks.

— When do you plan to start training in Melbourne?

– And I’m already here. I landed a few hours ago, as I flew out of Hong Kong immediately after the final. So I will have almost a week to recover, train and prepare well.