Rublev’s unlikely rise to Umag title

Published by Matt Trollope

Andrew Rublev kisses the Umag trophy - he is just the seventh lucky loser in history to win an ATP title; Getty Images
Young gun Andrey Rublev appears to have ignited his season after an unexpected run to his first ATP title in Umag. Now inside the top 50, could this be the result that kick-starts his career?

Andrey Rublev was not even supposed to be in the draw in Umag.

The Russian teen had fallen at the final hurdle in qualifying at the ATP claycourt event and only made his way into the tournament as a lucky loser.

But once given a second chance, he made the most of it.

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Rublev dropped just one set in five matches to win the first ATP title of his career, one many had predicted since he was pegged as one of the hottest prospects in the game but until the past few months had looked a long way away.

“It’s amazing. I have no words to explain it, especially after this tough week. Now I’m here and it’s amazing,” said the 19-year-old after becoming the first lucky loser to win an ATP tournament in eight years.

Rublev was a former world No.1 junior at just 16 years of age in 2014, a French Open boys’ singles champion that same year.

Transitioning to the professional ranks proved more difficult.

Given the gift of abundant main-draw wildcards as one of the game’s exciting new talents and an ATP #NextGen star, Rublev struggled to string match wins together.

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Coming into this season he’d never before gone beyond the second round at an ATP event. Fellow 19-year-olds Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz had pierced the top 100 and gone much further, while Rublev even trailed in the rankings a group of players – Frances Tiafoe, Stefan Kozlov and Duckhee Lee – who were all a year younger.

Signs started to improve in 2017 when Rublev qualified for the Australian Open and advanced to the second round, only to be brought back to earth by top seed Andy Murray, who thrashed the youngster 6-3 6-0 6-2.

Although he was enjoying success at Challenger level, ATP success remained elusive – in his first nine tournaments, he suffered first-round qualifying losses at six of them.

Yet once he hit the grass, he turned a corner. At Halle, he advanced to his first ATP quarterfinal. He qualified at Wimbledon, reaching the second round. Then came Umag.

In his last 15 outings, Rublev has scored 12 wins.

“I’ve improved a lot since last year, because I changed my team and the work now is absolutely different than before,” he told atpworldtour.com.

“If you compare me now and last year, it’s another level. I just try to keep going and we’ll see. It’s all about understanding how to play and that it’s not just about hitting the ball. It’s a tough game and if you start to understand how to play the game, you will improve and start to feel these things.

“Before I wasn’t even thinking about these things and now I see a big improvement.”

Having soared to world No.49 following his triumph, Rublev is starting to match the feats of his #NextGen counterparts.

He’s now the third-highest ranked of the group – behind Zverev and Khachanov – and looks in a strong position to seal a berth at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan in November.

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