Andrey Rublev was eliminated at the quarter-final stage of a Grand Slam tournament for the fifth time in his career following defeat to Marin Cilic at the 2022 Roland Garros.
It was a disappointing experience for the Russian in the French capital as he took Cilic all the way to the fifth set tie-break in a marathon contest. However, Rublev eventually lost to the experienced Croatian, who reached the Roland Garros semi-final stage for the first time in his career.
Rublev, currently ranked seventh in the ATP rankings, was the pre-match favourite against Cilic, placed 23rd in the standings. Moreover, additional frustration will come for the Russian as he came into the French Open in decent form, having won the clay-court Serbian Open last month, beating Novak Djokovic in the final.
The result also means that Rublev has never made it past the quarter-final stage at a Grand Slam tournament in his career, including a previous final-eight run at the 2020 Roland Garros. Following the loss, Rublev didn't hide his disappointment after falling at the quarter-final stage yet again.
"I couldn't manage the emotions the previous times. And now it was the closest ever time that I was able to go through to be in semis. Then again, the same thing, I didn't manage the emotions. I don't know if I did it better compared to other matches."
Rublev's other quarter-final runs at the majors came at the 2021 Australian Open and the US Open in 2020 and 2017. Currently, it is a hurdle which the Russian cannot seem to overcome and he continued to look lost for explanations when elaborating on his post-match analysis following the Cilic defeat in Paris.
"At least I did a better score and I was closer than other matches, but still, it is the same thing... There are so many things I need to improve. Probably the most positive thing: that I did one more quarter-final. Yeah, that's it. The rest I need to improve so many things."
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