Andrey Rublev returned to the tennis courts at the 2024 China Open in Beijing with a win. After the match, he revealed that he underwent surgery after the US Open.
Rublev last played at the US Open and hadn't been seen on the tennis courts since, which was a bit odd as he is a tennis player who plays a lot of tennis. He's playing anytime he can, but he hasn't lately, and some people wondered why.
After finally returning to the action in Beijing, he announced why. Rublev played fellow long-time pro Pablo Carreno Busta and outplayed him in three sets, noting that it was a tough battle.
The match was fascinating because Rublev won the opening set 6-0 but then lost the second and won in the third. It was just a typical tennis match with ebbs and flows, but the Russian was able to come out on top.
"Not much, I mean. I guess I relaxed a bit. Pablo started to play a little bit better, and obviously, you cannot play like I did in the first set. I had a chance at the beginning of the second set, but I didn't make it."
"Then we were equal, and in some moments I started to miss. That was the difference in the second set. In the third set, he was a bit more pumped. He had a bit more chance than me, but I was able to fight to be there, and then I lost two games; I played really well."
Rublev then talked about his absence from the tennis courts and revealed that he wasn't supposed to play in Beijing. Apparently, he was dealing with some physical issues that would prevent him from playing in China. Rublev didn't mention what the issues were but admitted that he underwent surgery.
"It was not even that I was off. I didn't know if I would be able to play in China because of some issues that I had. In the beginning, they were telling me there was no chance to play in China—one month in bed—but everything went well, the surgery went well. They told me after the surgery that I might likely be in Shanghai. No one from my team expected me to be here."
At the moment, it's not clear what kind of surgery it was, but a month’s recovery indicates that it was probably not a minor issue either. Rublev famously struggled with his tonsils earlier this year, spending time in the hospital and generally feeling drained after battling infections.
That might be something he removed surgically because it fits the timeline, and it can linger and cause more problems in the future. That's only a speculation, but maybe Rublev will detail the issue in more detail in the coming days.
The most important part is that he's back on the courts and was able to win the match. He'll be looking to do more of that in the coming weeks.