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QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN

January 6, 2018

Andrey Rublev

Doha, Qatar

G. MONFILS/A. Rublev

6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Congratulations for a great week. Did you feel a little tired or rushed today? Do you think it was more him? Assess the match.
ANDREY RUBLEV: Thank you for congratulations. I think I was completely tired today. I mean, you can see that even my shots was not the same energy like previous matches. I was doing a lot of mistakes, a lot of wrong shots. You can see even I was really slow today on the court.

Every time he was move me to one side and most of the time it was almost over, or if I could catch one point then he was always killing me with the second.

You can see that today I was really had no energy, no power in the legs and the speed of the ball was not even close like it was previous matches. I mean, previous matches was much faster and all this stuff and really tough for me.

Q. Do you also think some of that is experience? Maybe a little more time and he had more experience?
ANDREY RUBLEV: I mean, all the finals it's experience. I mean, but here is tough. I mean, we play only one hour. I guess the match was almost without chances for me.

You can see that he was much fresher. He was moving much better than me. He was missing less. You can see that it was, I think, different mentally and energy for both of us. He was more ready to compete and I was a little low.

Q. Even now I suppose you are a little bit disappointed, I suppose you are happy for this week, the first week of the year, one final?
ANDREY RUBLEV: Of course I'm disappointed. It's always tough to lose, especially in the finals. Sometimes it's even tougher to recover when you lose in the final then when you lose some semifinals or first rounds.

But of course it was great week for me. It's a great start for me. I didn't expect that I'm going to be in the finals, which is great. I'm of course I'm happy to be in the final. I'm happy with my result this week. And I hope and I wish I can be more consistent, and I hope it's not going to be only one week like this.

Q. Yesterday after the match, of course you already realized that today you were going to be tired.
ANDREY RUBLEV: Of course. I mean, I was feeling that most of the chances I'm going to be really tired. But I don't know, still I was hoping maybe I will be more fresher, I will feel not that tired. Because sometimes even after the long matches, next day sometimes I don't know why but I feel my body all right.

But after yesterday match, especially we had so many long rallies and so many shots that both of us was defending really hard. And today my legs was not really -- my legs was not ready to run the same. I didn't have the same intensity in my legs. I didn't have the same speed in my hands.

Also, you can say only congrats to Gael because he was not missing, I think he was serving really great today. It was really tough to return. During the rallies he was making all the balls. He was not missing. So it was even -- it was really tough also to play. It happens.

Q. There is not a lot of opportunities for you to play five, six matches in a week. So this is probably the second, third time that you have played so many matches. How do you feel your body needs to improve in terms of recovery regime? Are you going to work on that so that you can go out better?
ANDREY RUBLEV: We're working on fitness a lot to be available to compete for many hours, for five sets, every day. I think I'm doing much better than last year. I mean, it's just the first tournament. First tournament it's always tough to find the rhythm. When you find the rhythm, it's more easy to play long matches. And it's normal.

We'll see now what happens in Australia. Always after the Grand Slams, when you play four- or five-set matches, it's always more easier to play on the normal tournaments. It's even more easier. You still have energy. You know, it's more to get in shape.

I think during the season, you feel only better and better physical and it's normal.

Q. After your performances this week, are you more confident going into the Australian Open and especially as you are seeded?
ANDREY RUBLEV: Yeah. I mean, I go the same confidence like am now. Nothing really change. I mean, now it's going to be preparation for Australian Open and I'm happy to be seed. We'll see what's going to happen.

I'm looking forward. I did great week now. Now it's coming next week and we'll see what's going to happen. Yeah, I'm happy to be seeded. And of course I feel a little bit more confident. But we'll see what's happen. You never know who you are going to play and there's many guys that they are not seeded but they are really, really tough to beat them.

Q. Monfils is a very powerful player. Big serve, very athletic game. Do you think he is the kind of player where your game is going to struggle a little bit or do you find that you don't have a problem against any kind of player, whether he's got a lot of power or consistency? Who is your toughest opponent that way?
ANDREY RUBLEV: I don't know. I mean, he has a great serve, but during the rally I mean I was feeling fine. And he was not -- he was playing more safety, I think. He was waiting for my mistakes. It's normal.

I like to play with these kinds of guys who is waiting, who is -- I mean, this for me is more easy to take the lead to control the points. I like this kind of players. But I mean, you never know, every day is different day. Maybe he's feeling well, I'm not feeling not well; or opposite, I'm feeling really great and he's not feeling great. So every day is always different. If you like this kind of players, it doesn't mean that you are going to win always.

To beat this kind of player, you need to be ready to compete 100 percent. You need to be as fresh as possible. I mean, even sometimes with this energy that I had today, I think it's more easy to play with players who have weak serves and who play short rallies. But to play with this kind of guys like Monfils, you need to be ready to run 100 percent, you need to be focus 100 percent. And when you are tired, it's really tough.

Q. Are you are supposed to play this coming week or is your next tournament the Open?
ANDREY RUBLEV: I mean, we'll see now. I'm coming to Oakland and it's going to be flight 16 hours. And I'm arriving Monday, and Tuesday I have to play. We'll see. If I will feel fine, I will play. We'll see now. Now I'm completely destroyed.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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