Andrey Rublev has now reached the quarter-final stage or better of all nine Masters 1000 events.
You never completely know what you’re going to get with Andrey Rublev in terms of results, yet everything else about his game is perfectly predictable.
The Russian will always hit with relentless power, take his forehand a split-second early, barely celebrate a great shot, and scream over a slightly below average one.
While his Montreal Open quarter-final opponent was world number one Jannik Sinner, Rublev’s record against the Italian was not dreadful coming in, having won two of their seven matches.
Harnessing his huge forehand and most remarkably, his mental resilience, Rublev secured his third win against Sinner in a tense three-set battle ending 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.
Rublev is now the only man to beat both Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner this season, and will now face another Italian, Matteo Arnaldi, for a spot in the final.
Andrey Rublev speaks about how important beating Jannik Sinner was for his mental health
Rublev has often displayed a troubling energy on court, harshly criticising himself during matches, occasionally hitting himself with his racquet.
His on-court demeanor has historically been something that may have contributed to his lack of grand slam success, with the Russian unable to control his emotions on court.
After defeating Sinner, a more positive Rublev said: “I was able to win today against Jannik, for me it’s a special moment because I was struggling for many months, I guess I need that match to feel like I’m playing well and that I’m able to show good results, so I’m happy.
“Because I was struggling for many years with depression with many things outside of the court, and I guess this year it’s when I couldn’t handle it anymore and it starts to just explode,” he admitted.
“And it starts to explode more and more on the court, because in life I was able to stay calm, but inside the court I was burning everything, so in the end, yeah, I was struggling. Now in the last months I feel really good, straight away tennis is better.”
His semi-final matchup with Arnaldi is a re-run of their third round French Open encounter in June, where a furious Rublev combusted and fell to a straight sets defeat.
Andrey Rublev knows he needs a long term solution to his anger, not just a quick-fix
The nature of tennis and the scoring system means that you can win fewer points than your opponent, but still win the match.
A sport of incredibly fine margins, there is rarely a straightforward route to victory and it can become a lonely and intensely difficult mental battle.
While his admissions that he is feeling a lot more calm are wonderful to hear, tennis is not a sport where you are going to win anywhere near the majority of the points or matches necessarily.
Sometimes his outbursts on court have teetered on dangerous and concerning, and so while it’s a relief to hear him talk so frankly about his mental health, one can only hope he has taken a significant turn.
Beating Sinner is a fantastic achievement and should be celebrated – the real test now will be if he can shake the anguish of his encounter with Arnaldi, as they fight it out for a spot in the final.
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