Andrey Rublev faces the prospect of another tough season in 2025, but he is more than up for the challenge.
Rublev wants to be ‘healthy mentally’ in 2025, having endured several frustrating moments over the past 12 months.
Russian ace Rublev ended the year eighth in the rankings, three places off his career-high spot secured in 2021.
The 27-year-old did manage to win two titles this season, with Rublev now impressively sitting on 16 ATP Tour-level titles.
But adding to that tally is set to prove difficult given the talents of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who between them won 12 titles in 2024.
Andrey Rublev says how he feels about playing Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz
Their emergence comes immediately after the easing out of the Big Three, with only Novak Djokovic remaining after the retirements of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
And Rublev has now shared his thoughts on the situation, having been asked by AFP if he is frustrated to face opponents like Sinner and Alcaraz having faced the Big Three at the start of his career.
“No, not at all,” said Rublev. “They exploit their potential to the best of their ability, I don’t. I know I still have room for improvement, it all depends on me. I have to focus on myself to try to learn how to use my potential more, and we’ll see what happens.”
What is Andrey Rublev’s record vs Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner?
Despite all of the negativity surrounding Rublev in 2024, he did manage to secure an ATP Finals spot in Turin.
But the Russian was quickly overcome by Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud as he failed to make it beyond the group stages.
READ MORE: Jannik Sinner helps Italian tennis break new record as the 2024 season ends
Still, he needs to take great confidence from a more positive season than negative, with Rublev also needing to improve the mental aspect of his game.
Frustration and losing by fine margins are part of the game, but dealing with the emotions surrounding those issues is integral to success.
| Rank | Wins-losses | Titles | Prize money | |
| 2024 | 8 | 43-26 | 2 | $4,067,753 |
| Career | 5 (Career-high) | 335-184 | 16 | $25,686,167 |
That is perhaps epitomised by Nadal in particular, with the Spanish legend having very rarely lost his cool on the court.
Rublev is doing his utmost to keep as close as possible to the current star duo, with the Russian winning one and losing two of his battles with Alcaraz, while he has three wins from his nine meetings with Sinner.
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