MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 1, 2024

Andrey Rublev

Press Conference

A. RUBLEV/C. Alcaraz

4-6, 6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Andrey, your thoughts on this match.

ANDREY RUBLEV: I feel great. I mean, I feel super tired but it's normal. Now I have finally one day off to be 100% ready for semifinal. We'll see. Yeah, but I feel great.

Was amazing match. I think the atmosphere was, at least for me, the atmosphere was really nice, and I enjoyed a lot to play in front of full stadium even all of them were supporting Carlos, which is normal, but the atmosphere was really nice.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. I heard in your interview on Tennis TV you were saying that the key was that you kept your cool in this match. Why do you think you were able to do that?

ANDREY RUBLEV: I don't know. I don't know, to be honest (smiling). I mean, I know, but I don't know if I can say this.

I had no energy and no power to do anything else besides just to focus on the game. I had no energy to complain today (smiling).

Q. Regarding your serve, it was quite incredible today in the second and the third sets. Can you talk a little bit about it? Also, since the beginning of the season, I think you have good stats.

ANDREY RUBLEV: Yeah, it's true. Last two matches I'm starting really well and winning a lot on my serve. Of course it helps a lot when you win every game couple of points free because of the serve.

Today I was serving also really well. In the beginning I didn't start serving well, but then later on during the match I was able to calm down myself, and I start to play better, I start to hit better. With the shots, I start to serve better, as well.

Then I finish the match I think, at least with the serve I was feeling that I can serve any direction.

Q. I think there was some confusion when you tried to challenge and then you weren't allowed because you rubbed it out. I know against Davidovich you couldn't replay a point you wanted to play. Do you think the challenge system has been explained to you well? Because I know you said on court you didn't know some of these things...

ANDREY RUBLEV: I mean, for me, it was weird. I said challenge, so I already asked for challenge. They should show it. Then normally it's my decision what to do with the mark, if I want to, how to say, if I want to clean it or not, because I already asked. I understand if I clean first and then I ask for the challenge, okay, maybe it's something weird.

But if I ask already, first, that can I have challenge, and he say challenge, and umpire make announcement, challenge, and then I went to the mark and I clean it while I was waiting for replay, I didn't know that it counts as I can't still challenge.

I told him at least then explain this rule before the match. Why you never say this before the match? And why the rules somehow keep changing? At least explain this as well before the match, because then it happen what happen now.

That's it. Basically it was just a moment of misunderstanding.

Q. Given your form coming in, you had a period where you weren't able to win matches and then, how this week is going for you, what's kind of the takeaway from these past couple of months or three months and the fact that things can change fairly quickly?

ANDREY RUBLEV: I would say that was the key for me that the things can change very quickly, so even when I was not showing good results for the last couple of weeks, for the last couple of months, that was the only hope inside that I had that at least I was feeling that I'm practicing well, I'm feeling the ball well in practices, so let's wait just for the moment.

Because in tennis, everything, thanks that we have this sport that everything can change so fast. We don't need to wait one more year or half year to be able to compete. We have tournaments every week, and we have a lot of big tournaments.

So as soon as you do one week good, of course it will, how you say, it will make you feel that you will forget basically about the weeks that was not that good.

Q. Zverev yesterday said that this new format of Masters 1000 is good for players from the 50th position ranking to 100, but it isn't good for top-10 players. What do you think about it?

ANDREY RUBLEV: I guess I need to hear exactly why, because what was the reason why? Because this is like more overall.

Q. Because he said that top-10 players compete to win the tournaments, so they have less days to rest, to recover.

ANDREY RUBLEV: I mean, it depends. It's tough a bit question, because it's true that some tournaments looks like they are longer and we have more days to rest, but then you end up, let's say maybe before we had Madrid and Rome, and in two weeks we were playing these two tournaments, and then you had two weeks more at home.

Now looks like we are having more rest between matches but it take us four weeks. And of course mentally it's a bit tougher, and then you don't spend that much time home because you spend less time and you have less time to recover.

I guess that's what he wanted to mend. I can understand this. But it's tough question, because here there is a lot of inside details, and it's not easy to say which option is good, which option is not good.

I mean, I guess it's more should be, yeah, how all the players are thinking, the average of the players, and then also what are better for spectators. Then, depending of most of the players' opinion and depending of how it goes with the spectators, then to do those decisions, because sometimes they're, yeah, taking decision without asking anyone. Then some players like it; some players don't like it.

Q. A few days back I asked you what was your main goal so far for the season? So far, what does it mean for you this victory for your season?

ANDREY RUBLEV: I mean, I don't know what this victory means for my season, but for this week, it means a lot. I mean, doesn't matter what's gonna happen in semifinal. For sure it's already been a positive week for me with really great tennis, because I played great tennis since the first match.

So just the most important thing is somehow now to be able to rest, to recover, and then to do my best on Friday and that's it.

Q. Last year you won with Karen Khachanov doubles.

ANDREY RUBLEV: Yeah.

Q. Apart from that, do you feel appreciated in Madrid? You beat a Spanish man, blah, blah, but...

ANDREY RUBLEV: Yeah, I feel great. I like the city a lot. I like the restaurants here a lot, and I enjoy the atmosphere.

Like I said, I enjoy a lot today even if all the spectators, they were supporting Carlos, which is normal and I understand completely because he was at home, but I don't know, I still was feeling positive. I was enjoying. I was enjoying it's a lot of people. A lot of people are into the tennis.

They are really following what's happening on court. They are really into the match. You can feel that they're not came just to, okay, let's spend the time... You can see they were really into the match. It's really nice feeling.

I was, yeah, I enjoyed.