By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Nu | Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Photograph credit: Francois Nels/Getty
Wimbledon is thought for its all-white traces.
Go away it to Andrei Rublev to paint the spot black and blue.
An enraged Rublev snapped – hardly a information flash given his earlier main meltdowns – and repeatedly banged his Head racket towards his proper knee throughout his Wimbledon opening-round loss to Argentina’s Francisco Comesana.
What a blow: Rublev hit his stick on his knee seven instances through the match of rage, by our depend.
Afterward, Rublev gave a easy clarification for why he had abused his knee as a substitute of his ordinary trick of smashing his racket off the court docket: it is too costly to break the celebrated SW19 court docket.
“I would not do it if I might hit the racket on the bottom,” Rublev instructed media at Wimbledon. “As a result of we’re not allowed to hit them on the grass.
“I do not know why I could not deal with it at that second. I needed to let my feelings run free. However thanks, all the things is ok. Once more, I used to be somewhat fortunate.”
Off the court docket, Rublev is among the most light, well mannered and even-tempered males on the ATP Tour.
Put him within the stress cooker of Grand Slam competitions, flip up the temperature, and often it is only a matter of pushing the restrict earlier than Rublev explodes.
The gifted Rublev has not but reached a single quarter-final in 27 Grand Slam tournaments.
The sixth-seeded Russian has examined himself a number of instances previously.
Suppose again to final month’s Roland Garros. Rublev repeatedly slammed his racket into his leg, thumped his stick on the purple clay in frustration, and appeared like somebody trapped in a horror film of his personal making.
World quantity 35 Matteo Arnaldi defeated Rublev 7-6(8), 6-2, 6-4 to achieve the fourth spherical of Roland Garros for the primary time. Nevertheless, Rublev misplaced once more that day.
It was a day to overlook for Andrey Rublev at Roland-Garros 😬💥#Roland Garros photo.twitter.com/U0ou2C16Ca
— Eurosport (@eurosport) May 31, 2024
Rublev later described his implosion as pure self-destruction.
“The issue is the top. Right this moment I am truly destroying myself, and that is it,” Rublev instructed media in Paris, calling it his worst behaviour in an essential match.
“I believe it was the primary time I behaved so badly. Not a lot to say,” Rublev stated after his breakdown in Paris.
When self-destructive artist Nick Kyrgios urges you to take it a bit simpler, as ESPN analyst Kyrgios steered that needs to be the Russian’s prime precedence, you recognize you might have a scorching mood.
Should you assume Rublev must put on a bulletproof vest or no less than knee pads to guard his 75-kilogram physique from his violent racket assaults, he says there’s a easier answer.
Rublev stated that studying to take care of his feelings and avoiding the urge to beat himself up remains to be a piece in progress.
“Naturally [I want to be under control]“The most important downside is that I’ve to enhance,” Rublev instructed Wimbledon media earlier than he left. “After all, I didn’t behave like I did in Paris right this moment, however I can do a lot better. This isn’t the way in which.
“After all our prime precedence is to be constructive all through the match.”