Andrey Rublev made a shocking revelation following his Madrid Masters win as the Russian tennis star battled an illness and inflamed toe but still managed to play out the entire tournament and ultimately clinch one of his biggest titles.
Rublev, who was seeded at No. 7 in Madrid, edged out former world No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6 7-5 7-5 in the Madrid final for his second Masters title and his 16th ATP title. Before completing a win over Auger-Aliassime, Rublev endured a grueling battle as he spent two hours and 48 minutes on the court.
To beat Auger-Aliassime, Rublev needed to leave a lot both mentally and physically. But there wouldn’t be anything particularly surprising in Rublev edging out Auger-Aliassime in a nearly three-hour battle if not for a stunning revelation made by the Russian.
After his win, 26-year-old Rublev revealed that he battled multiple issues in Madrid and that he was close to withdrawing from the tournament. That’s when Rublev called the doctors in Madrid “magicians” and credited them for putting him in a position to play.
“I was. There were a few issues I couldn’t fix. I have to give full credit to the doctors. They’re magicians. They were doing some tricky things.. Somehow I was able to at least play. I’ve never seen this in my life. They’re the best so far out of all the ones I’ve had on tour,” Rublev said.
Andrey Rublev © Getty Images Sport – Julian Finney
Rublev had his foot anesthetized, battled a mysterious illness
At one point, one of Rublev’s toes got so inflamed that it was almost impossible for him to put on his shoes. But the doctors figured out a solution as Rublev played the tournament with his foot anesthetized.
“They were doing kind of anaesthesia in my [toe] because my [toe] somehow get inflamed and start to be double bigger and all the pressure start to be on the bone, and the pressure on the bone, when you have pressure on the bone, you cannot even put your feet inside the shoe,” Rublev revealed.
“The feeling is similar to when it’s broken, I guess. So that’s why they were putting anaesthesia for me to not feel it. Like I say, at least I was able to play without thinking.”
Not only that Rublev battled a foot issue in Madrid, but he was also dealing with a myserious illness. When revealing that, Rublev shared that his throat was “blocked” and that it was almost “impossible to eat,” which also led to nasty headaches.
“I’m still sick from everything. I’m still sick, and tomorrow I guess I will go to the hospital for full check. Don’t know exactly what’s going on, because I have been sick already for eight, nine days, and this is not normal. The same, like, not really improvements, which is strange, because normally all my life, if I was sick, it’s two, three days, maximum. Still maybe fever but nothing special. This time, first time I feel that worst in my life,” Rublev said.
“Tomorrow we will find out what exactly it is or if it’s angina? I don’t know if you know it, or if it’s some virus, but the throat is completely blocked. My throat, for nine days, it’s impossible to swallow, impossible to eat and headache full because of it.”
Andrey Rublev © Getty Images Sport – Clive Brunskill
Rublev on overcoming Auger-Aliassime in a tight battle
When the match started, Rublev wasn’t looking great on the court as he quickly found himself down by two breaks. While Rublev managed to get one break back, Auger-Aliassime kept his second break and that was enough for the Canadian to seal the opener.
After three breaks of serve in the first set, the first and lone break points of the second set came in the 12th game – the game in which Auger-Aliassime was serving to stay in the set. On his second break point – which was at the same time a set point – Rublev converted to send the match into a decider.
In the third set, Rublev was putting major pressure on Auger-Aliassime’s serve but he just wasn’t finding a way to break. After missing two break points in the second game and two more in the fourth game, Rublev missed another in the eighth game.
But just like in the second set, Rublev managed to break Auger-Aliassime while 6-5 up and complete his win.
After the final, Rublev acknowledged Auger-Aliassime’s performance and classily said the Canadian should also feel like a winner.
Andrey Rublev and Felix Auger-Aliassime © Getty Images Sport – Clive Brunskill
“I think it was an incredible match, Felix deserved (in) the same way as me to win today and we showed a great battle together, I think the most important thing was that the people enjoyed it. Our sport is like this, we cannot have both winners,” Rublev said after beating Auger-Aliassime.
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