Andrey Rublev: 2024 Dubai default “forgotten,” talks honesty, balance

DUBAI—A lighter (if not always brighter) Andrey Rublev spoke eagerly of his return to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, eager to move past the incident that saw him defaulted from the 2024 semifinals.

“It’s all forgotten,” the No. 3 said ahead of his first round against Quentin Halys. “I haven’t thought about it until you just asked now.”

Rublev was playing a third set against Alexander Bublik when an outburst towards a lines official resulted in his getting thrown out of the tournament with a $36,400 fine.

“I hope it’s all forgotten,” he clarified, “but to be honest and I don’t know if it sounds good or bad, it hasn’t bothered me. I haven’t been having nightmares or fears to play matches. It didn’t really bother me.

“Things happen sometimes. Sometimes you cross the line and they punish you fairly. Sometimes you do nothing and they punish you not fair. Other times you cross the line and no one realizes or no one punishes you. It’s life.”

Life has had numerous ups and downs for Rublev over the five all-but-interrupted years ranked inside the Top 10; he struggled to win matches for three months after the default but resurrected in style to win the Mutua Madrid Masters last May.

“I was kind of in a loop, lost with myself for a couple of years,” he recalled. “I was not finding the way, not understanding what to do or, it sounds a bit dramatic but even the reason or purpose to live.

“It’s one thing for this to happen once or for one to three months. But when it’s happening for one, two, three, five years, there comes a moment where you cannot take it anymore. It was like a pain that grew more and more to the point where you want to cut your arm off.”

The 27-year-old, who later revealed to having taken anti-depressants for a year, now credits a conversation with former world No. 1 Marat Safin with giving him a new, less negative mindset.

People like to put on masks, and they make the excuse that they’re doing that to defend themselves because someone hurt them or they don’t want others to see their true selves. This person is already lying to himself and is trying to run away from his problems...Most people are like this, so it’s so important to be honest with yourself and be more aware. Andrey Rublev

“The main thing is to be honest with yourself, really, really honest,” said Rublev, currently ranked No. 9 after a title run at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open last week.

“I would think, with myself, I know I’m honest; I have no problem to say if I’m wrong or right, or when I’ve made mistakes. But the conversation [with Marat] showed I was also lying to myself about many things and I didn’t want to understand or notice them. You need someone who can make you see yourself in an honest way. This will help you be more honest with other people.

“People like to put on masks,” he continued, “and they make the excuse that they’re doing that to defend themselves because someone hurt them or they don’t want others to see their true selves. This person is already lying to himself and is trying to run away from his problems. He doesn’t want to face his own reality and he’s making this story to create a different reality. Most people are like this, so it’s so important to be honest with yourself and be more aware.”

This search for honesty has manifested both on court and on his sneakers. Inspired by NBA star Steph Curry, the word “Responsibility” can be seen scrawled across his K-Swiss shoes after attempts to write the mantra on his wrist and finger proved less reliable.

“This word is one that triggers me in a good way,” said Rublev, later explaining, “You can only take responsibility for yourself, and I put that word to remind myself that I’m the one, and if something bad happens to me, it’s not because of luck. It’s because I made a mistake and it’s my fault. Even if someone did something bad to you, it’s still your fault the situation happened. You cannot blame anything or anyone, so this is to remind myself not to complain.”

Perhaps it’s unsurprising that Rublev is as intense about mental health as everything else, but the Russian insists he’s in a much more balanced headspace after hitting rock bottom last year.

“I’m not in a good or bad place, but I’m not feeling any more stress, not having depression,” he said. “I’m just neutral, not happy, not bad. At least I found the base, and that’s a beginning.

“It’s all about balance in everything. If you don’t have balance with yourself, everything will come apart and you will be unbalanced with everything: with family, with your job. How can you expect to have anything if you don’t have balance with yourself? You have to have a base with yourself and build everything else on top of it.”

Rublev will begin his Dubai campaign in doubles with childhood friend Karen Khachanov on Monday.