Andrey Rublev's speech during the trophy presentation at the 2023 Bastad Open was a moment worthy of its own highlight reel.
Rublev defeated Casper Ruud in the 2023 Nordea Open final 7-6, 6-0 to win his second title of the season. Simultaneously, he ended the Norwegian's three-year stranglehold at ATP 250 level, handing him his first finals defeat since Santiago in 2020.
Rublev attributed to the chilly conditions helping his game. Ruud, who prefers to suffocate opponents with his high-looping forehand on clay has bulldozed opponents in recent years. But that wasn't the case as Rublev explained post-match, which allowed him to muscle the balls extremely early.
The pair still managed to share a cordial exchange and even slipped on some friendly banter after the match. Rublev then went on to congratulate Ruud and thanked the tournament organizers for putting the event in place.
But Rublev humorously took the microphone back in order to acknowledge his team, and his second coach Alberto Martin who deputized for the absent Fernando Vicente during the week.
"I forgot, my team. I forgot about my coach. It's a funny thing because normally my main coach is Fernando Vicente, and Alberto Martin is my now second coach, we started working this year."
"The only titles and finals this year I did with him, not with Fernando! So I guess we are doing right [things], so thank you so much, and hopefully, more titles come."
The Russian's first-serve output aided him to alleviate the danger, saving two of three break points on his serve. Rublev pinched a tight opening set in a tiebreak, but completely obliterated Ruud in the second set, winning it 6-0 in 31 minutes. Although Rublev sits in seventh place, he's cut Holger Rune's lead to less than 100 points.
Here's the moment Andrey Rublev hilariously forgot to acknowledge his team's efforts, but quickly took it back. Maybe Rublev needs to travel more with Alberto Martin in forthcoming tournaments!
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