‘I always play 5 sets, I mean 3!’ asserts Andrey Rublev as Russia up at Davis Cup

Andrey Rublev has been kept more than busy for his nation at the Davis Cup as he completed a fifth three-set match at this year’s competition. 

The world number five has now played five rubbers at the 2021 Davis Cup Finals, three in singles and two in doubles.

All five matches have gone to a deciding set, Rublev winning four and losing one singles to Feliciano Lopez.

Now, his fifth ended 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3) over Elias Ymer to put the Russians 1-0 up over Sweden in the last quarter-final tie.

“Looks like this week I’m playing five sets every match, three sets, sorry!” Rublev said in his post-match interview, seemingly exhausted from playing 15 sets this week.

“But yes, today was a super tough match. I didn’t manage to finish the match when I had really great chances.

“I missed some easy balls. So, basically, I brought him back [into] the game. And from there he raised his level.”

Rublev served for the match at 5-4 in the second before eventually losing it 7-5, but rallied to clinch the victory.

All three of his singles rubbers have been against players ranked outside the top 100, with Ymer ranked 171st and Roberto Quiroz barely inside the top 300 at 295.

“Of course, it’s a lot of pressure when you know you have to win,” Rublev continued.

“And then the guys who have nothing to lose, they go for it, they go for their shots, play without fear.

“[As the higher ranked player] you start to be less aggressive, miss a bit more, think more.

“And as soon as you think more, you have more problems. But in the end I managed to win and this is the most important thing.”

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