Andrey Rublev is quite notorious for his outbursts, and some of them have been crazy, including the most recent at the Dubai Championships, which was a lesson he admittedly described as much-needed.
Rublev is a passionate player who can quickly get frustrated when things don't go his way. He starts talking to his bench and to himself, which begins most of what we see. On some days, though, the Russian gets very frustrated, and that's when things boil over.
Sometimes he screams at people, sometimes he hits himself in the knee, he's done it all basically. The outburst in Dubai was particularly troublesome because he did it in a very threatening way towards a line umpire.
It's not a good image for the world to see, both from the Tour's point of view but also from Rublev's, as he was defaulted for his actions. By the rules, he should have lost all his prize money and points, but the ATP allowed him to keep the points and prize money.
The consequence of that is a lesson, and he talked about it after reaching the final of the 2024 Madrid Open.
"I already had many warnings in my life where I saw that I should be calmer. Not only in Dubai, in other places I was already close to doing something not very good and I was lucky that everything went well. I like to think that I am learning, not only from the warnings, but from myself regardless of the situations I have been through."
We'll see whether Rublev learned a lesson and could be considered a changed man. The Russian will have a chance to win a trophy again in Madrid, where he'll play against Felix-Auger Aliassime. That match will take place on Sunday, and it will be an emotional affair.
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