WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 22, 2021

Andrey Rublev

Press Conference

A. ZVEREV/A. Rublev

6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Commiserations today, but how encouraged can you be by the week overall, reaching your second Masters 1000 final?

ANDREY RUBLEV: Of course I can be only grateful for the week that I had. One more final, my second in career. Yeah, I can be only grateful, especially here in a special place for me with great memories.

Not much to say. Of course the final didn't, well, didn't went my way, but this is sport. There is only one winner. Sascha was playing unbelievable today. Nothing to say.

Q. Yesterday's semifinal win over Medvedev probably took quite a lot out of you. Do you think that had an impact on your performance today?

ANDREY RUBLEV: No, for sure, no, I was feeling well. It was more about I think beginning. Both sets, when you start straight with a break down, especially against Sascha who is serving that well and that hard, it's already super tough. Because he feel more release, he knows that he have advantage, he have one break ahead. It's much, much easier to play when you start with a break. It's already give you big advantage.

That was the key. If I would start maybe winning my serve 1-0, 1-All, 2-1, to like 3-All, then it's not easy. You feel tension, you feel tight. When you start straightaway with a break down, it's already huge advantage, especially, like I said against Sascha who is serving that well. You cannot start like this.

Q. When you're in a match like that and somebody like Sascha is playing so well, he didn't lose a point on serve till when he was serving for the first set, how are you trying to stay motivated? How are you trying to get through? What are you telling yourself to keep going?

ANDREY RUBLEV: I guess I don't know if I lose (smiling). I mean, no, it's -- I don't know. I'm on a learning process to learn how to do, what to do, what to say to myself. Because normally in these moments, you start to panic, you start to stress, you start to rush.

I can see that I'm doing this better. Even this final was completely easy. I was compare some other matches in the past when was happening the same way, I was double panic, double more panic, double more stress than even today.

So I'm, like, in a learning process to find out what exactly you need to do, what exactly need to say to yourself, how to find this balance inside of yourself.

So, I mean, these moments, sometimes it's easy when you know that even, okay, I'm losing, break down, but you know that maybe the guy who you play that you can return his serve, and you can maybe you will have chances most of the games, you know.

But with Sascha, that is like a (indiscernible), if you break down, it's really tough, because also from baseline he's playing really well. So even if you return his serve, you still need to win the point from baseline and it's tough, because he's really good at the baseline as well. So with him you need to be super focused and you need to hold your serve.

Q. As disappointing as this might be for you, I would also think it has to be very encouraging for your confidence going into New York after what you have achieved the last few weeks with a gold medal in Tokyo, reaching the final of a Masters 1000, all on the eve of a major.

ANDREY RUBLEV: Yeah, for sure. This is what I was missing, this confidence a bit after the summer swing especially that a few losses at Roland Garros, first round, take a bit out my confidence. That was I was needed this, you know, that in the end, now, I'm back on winning matches. I win some great matches here, I beat great players that I never beat before, like Gael or Daniil.

So I'm on I think on a great way, so let's see. I'm gonna try now prepare for US Open as best as I can, and we'll see what's gonna happen.

Q. Did you feel maybe like the nerves at the beginning of the match, maybe if it affected you the first couple games?

ANDREY RUBLEV: Of course. I mean, when you start the match, of course you feel nervous. In the end that was the key to the beginning that I couldn't save my serve. I said then you feel a bit more down that, you know, that he's serving so good, and it's going to be super tough to break him and he feel more because he know he have advantage. Even if he do some mistake, he still have advantage.

Plus he's now on super confidence after Olympic Games, winning some great matches here. So in the end, of course, when you start break down, even I know by myself when I break someone in the first game, it's double easier to play after. So that was, in the end, the key.

Q. During your professional career, you have played five times Sascha, and he's won five times. He said during the awards ceremony that during your junior years, you were kicking his ass. I was wondering, is it part of the problem in playing Sascha the fact that you haven't beaten him as a pro?

ANDREY RUBLEV: Maybe, of course. Some matches maybe you need to win at least once. Then, you know, to find this key that what you need to do exactly, you know. Sometimes when you're losing match by match, in the end it's not easy, you know.

And you can see that the way I lost couple of times to him was not real, because it's a bit, you know, too easy, the score is much easier, and the match is much easier than it should be. Because we play on practices, and it's always, we have tough sets, you know. You can see that we play similar level. And then when you go in match and you're losing like today 2 and 3, it's more mental. It's not about game.

It's all about mental that you need to find the key how to behave, you know, inside of yourself in these kind of matches. Because the game is there, so it's not about the game.