Andrey Rublev is known as a fierce competitor, but he's never been one to forget sportsmanship in the heat of the battle.
Rublev is known as a very emotional player who creates some smashing tennis when he's on the court. Occasionally, he'll create some unforgettable scenes, but not in a good way.
At the ATP Finals not long ago, Rublev bloodied his knee by hitting himself with the racquet in anger, and that was not the first time he did it.
Despite all that competitiveness and emotion, the Russian never forgets sportsmanship, and he demonstrated it recently against Arthur Fils at the 2024 Hong Kong Open.
The match was a close one, with both players winning one set, but Rublev ultimately found a better level in the final set to win the match. During the match in the first set, a serve by Fils was called out, with the umpire not sure whether it was really out or not.
Rublev approached the mark and suggested to Fils to challenge it after consulting with the umpire whether it was the correct mark.
Fils listened to him, and the hawk eye showed that the serve was indeed in, so the call was overturned, and Fils was awarded the first serve. It was a great moment to see because the Russian would have clearly benefitted from simply staying out of it.
Rublev was awarded with applause from the crowd and a sign of acknowledgment from Fils, which was great to see. Healthy competition is the best kind, and this was a clear demonstration of that.
He's not the only one who does it, though, but it's always great to see. Check out the whole situation below as TennisTV posted it on X. As noted above, Rublev won the match 6-4 1-6 6-2 and moved on to the semi-finals, where he'll face native player Juncheng Shang.
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