Andrey Rublev has suffered another hard defeat, this time in the first round of Wimbledon. The Russian has not managed to win even one match on grass, considering the defeat at Halle Open against Marcos Giron and now the sensational one at the Championships against the Argentine Francisco Comesana, his first career victory on the ATP Tour. Talking about a crisis is an understatement for a player who triumphed in Madrid a few weeks ago.
Fresh from a quarterfinal in 2023, the Russian had to surprisingly abandon the London Slam after the second day of competition. Another setback that essentially certifies his black crisis on the Tour, almost since the beginning of the year.
"There's not much I can say. I had a lot of opportunities, but I wasn't able to take advantage of them. My opponent was playing very well, with a 10-point mentality, so he deserved to win. That's all," he said in a press conference after the surprising loss.
Media present at the press roomthen asked him about hitting his knee, if he fears that this anger could one day cause an injury.
"I wouldn't have done it if I could hit the racket on the ground, but we're not allowed to hit the grass in any way. I don't know why I did it at that moment, I couldn't take it anymore, I needed to vent my emotions," answered Rublev.
Andrey also dwelt on what he needs now to react to these prolonged moments of difficulty: "I have to improve. Even if I didn't perform as badly as in Paris, I know I could have done much better. The priority is to be able to stay positive throughout the match. I need to win some matches, to get into a rhythm, but it's not easy. Since I lost at the French Open, I haven't played much in these weeks, only one match in Halle. When that rhythm breaks, it's never easy, you need a couple of wins to regain confidence, I guess that's what I need now. I want to focus exclusively on my improvement, I know it's a process and it takes time," he analyzed.
The triumph at the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid made it seem that Rublev had finally overcome the serious difficulties in terms of performance and results this season, but that's not the case. After the Spanish appointment, the Russian lost in the second round of the Internazionali d'Italia and did not go beyond the third round at Roland Garros, before the disaster on grass-courts.
