Andrey Rublev has been known as a hothead for a while, but the Russian erupted more fiercely this year than in years past, and he sought help for that.
Rublev was always a passionate player, but unfortunately, his passion exhibited itself in not the best ways. It mostly came down to a lot of outbursts, which accurately conveyed his passion during a tennis match, but it wasn't a good look for the sport or for the Russian.
Many fans enjoy seeing players' emotions because it makes them highly relatable. Every human is emotional on varying levels, but when Rublev's emotion is expressed by hitting himself in the knee or continuing temper tantrums, it stops being relatable for many.
It starts to signal a troubled individual who can't control his emotions. At times, it was really like that, and Rublev, to his credit, admitted as much. He recently opened up about his long battle with depression, which only made things worse, and a couple of months ago, the outbursts were particularly bad.
He understood that he needed help, so he went for it and got it. One unexpected helper was former ATP player and hothead, Marat Safin. The Russian was a brilliant tennis player whose legacy these days is mostly remembered as a player who was really emotional on the court, so he was uniquely qualified to ensure that Rublev doesn't create the same legacy.
It's a shame that Safin is remembered for being prone to outbursts more than his tennis because he was an excellent player during his time. Rublev is another great player, and he shouldn't be remembered for blooding his knee or shouting at a photographer or a line umpire.
He's better than that, so he sat down with Safin and talked. According to Rublev, it was Safin who proved to be the hothead whisperer, making things click for him.
"Everything. I was trying to figure out a lot by myself. I was trying to figure out those things a lot with a different psychologist, with a different courses, but who helped me a lot and he make me realize everything is Marat Safin."
Rublev even jokingly said that it's funny that Safin helped him, but there is a saying that life experience trumps everything. Sometimes, a person or an athlete has to go through life experiences to understand how to tackle them, and in that sense, Safin is truly the player to ask how to handle emotions better because he wasn't very good at it in the past.
"How funny it sounds, but it's true. He's the one, yeah, who helped me. After Wimbledon we had a really nice talk. Yeah, he helped me a lot, so big thanks to him."
Rublev has appeared much calmer in recent weeks. He's still not a beacon of calmness on the tennis courts, but that's his personality. There will always be some grimacing and very expressive reactions, but as long as he minimizes the shocking outburst, he should be good.
It's a waste of time and energy, and it completely disturbs his focus. It's not by chance that he will contest the 2024 Canadian Open final, his best result since May.
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