Andrey Rublev was thrown to the other extreme – Newspaper Kommersant No. 213 (7414) dated 11/17/2022

In Turin, at the final tournament of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which crossed the equator, with a prize fund of $ 14.75 million, a participant in the semifinal stage was determined. Following the Norwegian Kasper Ruud, the five-time winner of this competition Serb Novak Djokovic went there, who won the second victory in the Red Group in two games, this time over the Russian Andrey Rublev. The Kommersant correspondent watched how it was at the Pala Alpitour arena Evgeny Fedyakov.

After the end of the match against Andrey Rublev, at Novak Djokovic’s press conference, they talked more not about the game itself, since almost everything was clear about it to journalists without question, but about how the Serb reacted to the decision of the Australian government announced on Tuesday allow him in two months to play at the Australian Open. And Djokovic did not deny that the relief that he experienced when he learned this news, to some extent, could well have a positive effect on his game “against such a high-quality and dynamic opponent as Rublev.” Moreover, from the Serb’s point of view, he himself played one of the best matches this season, as evidenced by the statistics.

Djokovic posted an outstanding first serve hit rate of 81%! Not surprisingly, in nine games at the reception, Rublev could not earn a single break point, having suffered only seven points.

At first, however, the Russian also looked very good, and at the beginning of the eighth game of the first game, he even gave out, perhaps the most spectacular blow of the match, managing to cut the ball obliquely in a difficult situation and deceive the Serb rushing forward. Djokovic made a grimace of respect on his face, hit the stringed surface of the racket with his palm a couple of times, joining the standing ovation, and after a while, with a magnificent reception, he took the annoyed Rublev’s serve in the tenth game. On this, in fact, it was all over, since the Russian did not manage to clog the fountain of his emotions. As a result – 6:4, 6:1 in 67 minutes.

A Kommersant correspondent asked Andrei Rublev what the main reason for such a quick fiasco was. Perhaps the fact is that he did not have time to recover after the first victorious meeting with Daniil Medvedev, in which too much psychological energy was expended. It turned out that this is indeed the case.

“Probably, the day before yesterday I was really too mentally tired and by today I have not had time to recover so well that I can withstand such an opponent as Novak throughout the match. I only had enough concentration for one set, then whims went on, ”admitted Rublev.

And to another question, what would he prefer to take from this game for the decisive group stage match against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who met with Medvedev late on Wednesday evening, was followed by a direct answer: “Everything except behavior.”

The contrast between Rublev’s two matches at the current tournament, of course, turned out to be striking. The unbending fighter with hellish patience, which he appeared on Monday, was replaced on the court by an impulsive young man who, in the second set, was aware of the hopelessness of the situation.

But this does not mean at all that the Russian will be doomed on Friday in the decisive group stage meeting with Stefanos Tsitsipas. First, Tsitsipas is not Djokovic, who looks undefeated on his ideal indoor fast court so far (the same was true in London from 2012 to 2015, when Djokovic won the final tournament four times in a row). Secondly, Rublev also has self-esteem, and he is unlikely to allow himself another failure again, which in the match with Djokovic, given the current level of the Serb’s game, can still be considered programmed to a certain extent.