ROLEX SHANGHAI MASTERS

October 15, 2023

Andrey Rublev

Press Conference

H. HURKACZ/A. Rublev

6-3, 3-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Bad luck, Andrey. It was very, very close. How impressed were you with Hubi's level today?

ANDREY RUBLEV: I mean, I don't need to be impressed with his level because I know that he is a super great player and it's so tough to beat him, and I knew this since the beginning. We played before four times with each other and with him, you can easily lose only the way he serve. As we could see today he was serving unreal. The way he shoots sometimes from baseline, full power, so tough to do something.

Like I said, he's moving really well, so it's not easy to hit a winner against him. So I was not surprised at all because I knew that's his level.

THE MODERATOR: Any questions?

Q. Andrey, bad luck today, but what positives can you take out of the week overall, the tournament overall?

ANDREY RUBLEV: The positive things I can take, the level that I was playing all this tournament, that I did one more final of 1000 Masters, which is not happening always. So those things I can take for sure as a positive thing to keep basically working the same way because the last months, I felt that I'm doing everything right, I'm playing well, it's just matter of time when I will be able to show this game on the tournament.

Shanghai was the first tournament where I was able to show this kind of level on a tournament, so hopefully, I will keep on improving and keep showing this level during the rest of the season.

Q. Andrey, we spoke yesterday about sort of your feisty nature, and you said it doesn't help you. You seemed to be more actually more controlled today, I thought.

ANDREY RUBLEV: Today, yeah, there was only a couple of moments, but, yeah, general, I think I was able to manage my emotions much better, and that's why I think I was able to win the second set and to have chances in the third set, because I think third set I had good chances and there was just little details, and Hubi, he served all of them unreal. There was nothing to do.

Q. Can you speak a little about your expectation for the end of the season?

ANDREY RUBLEV: No expectation, just to keep practicing, to keep doing every day as best as I can to try to qualify for Turin, and then we'll see what's going to happen. I still have two more tournaments. I don't know, the goal, yeah, is to qualify to Turin, so hopefully, I will be able to show great game in Vienna and Paris, and we'll see if I will make it to Turin or not, and if I will make it, then I have one more tournament.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you.

ANDREY RUBLEV: Thank you.