Andrey Rublev recently announced he had severe surgery after the US Open, and the 10-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist has opened up further about the body part he could have lost.
There did not appear to be anything unusual about Rublev's US Open this year. He is among the best players at coming through the early rounds at Grand Slams, and he did that once again by reaching the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.
At that stage, Rublev faced Grigor Dimitrov, and the pair had an epic five-set battle. Despite the Russian recovering from two sets down to level the match, Dimitrov eventually prevailed 6-3, 7-6, 1-6, 3-6, 6-3.
It was another tough loss at a Grand Slam for Rublev. He has lost at the quarterfinal stage on ten occasions but did not give himself a chance to correct that record after losing to Dimitrov in the round of 16.
However, Rublev faced something far more severe almost immediately after that match in New York ended after he was concerned about the pain he felt during that contest.
Rublev revealed during the Asian swing that he almost had a body part amputated after his US Open loss, stunning fans with the news since they had no idea he had been going through something so serious.
Coming close to having any body part amputated is a scare, and thankfully, Rublev avoided that fate. But the story has gained even further traction after the four-time US Open quarterfinalist revealed the body part that might have been amputated.
Speaking at the 2024 Stockholm Open, Rublev said his testicle could have been removed after that was where he felt the pain.
"I don't know how to call it in a smart way but I can call it in a funny way... I almost lost my ball. I was super lucky because they say you have only five or six hours if the blood stops going there and then it's amputation."
Rublev also said the last thing the doctors made him do before they put him to sleep for the surgery was to sign a paper that gave them the right to amputate his testicle if that became necessary.
"They checked straight away and they took me as an emergency to do the surgery and then they were able to do the surgery in three or four hours after the first feeling I felt."
"So they were able to do everything good and in the end everything was great. The last thing before they made me sleep, I signed the paper saying they were allowed to amputate my ball - that was the last thing before the surgery that I saw."
This again shows that unexpected health issues can happen to healthy tennis players. Serena Williams also had a health scare recently, revealing she had to get a cyst removed.
Rublev can now put that stressful moment behind him and focus on improving his level from what was seen against Wawrinka in Stockholm.