ROLAND GARROS

October 5, 2020

Andrey Rublev

Press Conference

A. RUBLEV/M. Fucsovics

6-7, 7-5, 6-4, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Quarterfinals. Even if you lost four sets in 70 games, more than everybody else, you shouldn't worry because is not important. But I'd like to know if when you come out of the hotel, do they measure your temperature? When you get to Roland Garros, do they do it again or not, if you have fever or no fever? The question is related to the fact that Zverev said he had 38 degrees the other night. Somehow nobody knew it. I don't know if they check or not.

ANDREY RUBLEV: I don't know how is in case of Sascha. I don't know all the details. I can tell you from my side, when I left to Paris, they send me straight to do the test. I did yesterday one more test. No, sorry, in total I did more, but I'm saying the last one was yesterday. When I arrive to Paris, I did one test straight. Then after four days, I think on Wednesday I did one more. Then after few days more. Yesterday one more. I did three or four tests in total.

When I go out from the hotel, they didn't check my temperature. I don't know how is the case of other players, but in my case they didn't check.

Q. Kind of funny that it's going to be you and Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals given that you met in the Hamburg final, you both fell back two sets to love in your first rounds. Do you find that kind of funny? In general, what do you think of the matchup with Tsitsipas and the challenge of facing him?

ANDREY RUBLEV: Thank you for nice words.

Yeah, it's funny. Both of us had tough, tough week in Hamburg, tough final. Then both of us was down in the first round with two sets to love. Both of us come back. Now we are here and we're going to play each other in quarters. It's like a nice press story of the match.

I hope it's going to be interesting. I hope we're going to show a good level, good match, and I hope people will enjoy.

Q. Your opponents served for the set eight times in general in this tournament so far. They only won one of these games. What is it that makes you play your best tennis in those critical moments?

ANDREY RUBLEV: To be honest, I don't know. I mean, is just happen. I think I was really, really, really lucky. I think it was not me who did something. It just happen.

If you take all the matches before, most of the times it was never happening, and now in one week it happens more than ever. I don't know. I think it's more lucky than something that I play different. I don't really play in that moments different. I was playing the same style, the same shots. So was more about luck.

Maybe a little bit conditions because here is cold. It's not easy to serve hard every time. To be able to hold the serve is not that easy.

Q. There was some controversy about Alexander Zverev. Have you been asked about this?

ANDREY RUBLEV: Yes, I mean, depends what you want to know. But yes, in this press conference they ask me already.

Q. Back-to-back quarterfinals in slams. How proud are you of doing that? How tired are you coming off US Open, Hamburg, playing a lot of sets here?

ANDREY RUBLEV: I mean, of course I feel great. I feel great with my performance for last couple of weeks, in general with my season. I'm really grateful.

I mean, like every player, I don't think that I did something more than others. I think physical-wise I feel like the same like all the rest because we play the same matches. Even Stefanos, he play all week in Hamburg. We play exactly the same matches.

I will not say that I'm more tired than the rest, so don't look like I am -- I don't know. But, of course, I would say it's nice feeling. It's nice feeling to play these matches. It's nice feeling to be able to win that many matches in a row.

We'll see. I will try to do everything to be ready for quarterfinal. I hope we can show really great match.

Q. Can you really enjoy a match like that when you're always trying to chase the sets? It's obvious you can enjoy a match when you're dominant. With a battle like that, can you still enjoy it?

ANDREY RUBLEV: Today I think I start to enjoy more when was 1-All, one set all. When he broke me and I broke him back. When the games was 3-All, when I broke him, when he broke me back, from that time I start to enjoy more. In general I think we showed great level. Was a lot of long rallies, a lot of great rallies. These kind of matches are really important.

You understand why you are working, why you're giving everything every day in practices. These matches really, really counts, and really important.

Q. You won in Paris in juniors a couple of years ago. How would you compare the player you were in that time and the one you are now? You hit crazier shots at the time, now you compete better and you are older.

ANDREY RUBLEV: I would say at that time I was not even a player (smiling). I mean, it's different. I was completely different. I was kid. I was doing stupid things on court, off court.

But I really loved tennis. I was working really hard when I was kid. But I didn't understand at that moment what tennis is. I didn't understand what you need to do on court, what you need to do out of court. I was just hitting, practicing, hitting, because I love it, but without any thinking how to play, what you need to do, how to defend and all these little details. I didn't even know how it works.

At that time was more about shots, if I had good day, something like that. But juniors, you cannot compare what happening now.

Q. You had those serious injury problems. Is everything you're doing at the moment, would you say those problems have made you sort of mentally stronger and perhaps appreciate the wins even more now, the fact you had to take quite a lot of time out?

ANDREY RUBLEV: For sure appreciate in general much more things now inside the court, outside the court. Of course, I mean, any experience that you have or you had, it's give you -- if you take lesson in the right way, you always become mentally stronger no matter what happened, if it's injury or even if you don't have injury but you had something else. If you take lesson in the right way, you can be stronger mentally.

So of course in my case it helps me. But if you ask me I would prefer to don't have these injuries, yeah. But in my case, it helps me, yeah.