Andrey Rublev has spoken out about his latest on-court outburst at Wimbledon, asserting that he needed to release built-up emotions.
Rublev became the first Top 10 seed in the men's tournament to lose in the opening round. He was beaten by Argentina's Francisco Comesana in four sets on Court 2.
But the result was not the only talking point of the match. Just when tennis fans thought Rublev had learned his lesson in anger management, the Russian had another meltdown in the fourth game of the third set.
Rublev was trailing 1-3 in the third set and serving at 30-40 when he misdirected a backhand out of play to fall by a double break. Without second thoughts, he lost control of his emotions.
He unleashed a vehement expression of frustration and caused self-inflicted injury when he repeatedly smashed his racket into his leg, and onlookers counted to seven strokes.
This incident has rekindled the old-age debate about Rublev's mental health struggles and the need to see a sports psychologist. When it was mentioned to him in his post-match press conference that fans were "worried" about his behavior, he repudiated the assertion.
Instead, the sixth seed insisted that he wouldn't cause self-harm if he were at liberty to vent by hitting his racket on the playing surface, which is a forbidden act at Wimbledon. Players can be fined for misconduct and unsportsmanlike behavior.
"I wouldn’t do it if I was able to hit the racquet on the floor. Because we’re not allowed to hit it on the grass.. so I don’t know.. at that moment I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to let emotions out. But thanks. Everything is fine."
This is not the first time Rublev has done this, and there have been a few outbursts already this year, one of which resulted in a disqualification in Dubai. When asked if he had watched these videos on replay, Rublev admitted he hadn't and was persistent in trying to improve his behavior.
"I don’t watch those kind of videos. It’s not only about watching the videos. In general it’s about trying to improve yourself. It’s a process and it takes time."