"I was close to doing something not very good" - Andrey Rublev glad to exorcise demons of Dubai default & poor run of form with Madrid final run

Andrey Rublev has given his thoughts on whether his default from the semifinals of the Dubai Open in February has changed his attitude during his campaign at the Madrid Open this fortnight.

Rublev's form was in a rut coming into Madrid, as he had dropped four of his last five matches. The Russian's slump in form began after he was disqualified during the third set of his Dubai Open semifinal against Alexander Bublik.

Tied at 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 5-5 Ad-in, the umpire failed to call a ball that was seemingly long out, which incensed Andrey Rublev. The 26-year-old would consequently drop the game to trail 6-5 in the decider and went on a tirade against the line judge on his side of the court, reportedly calling him a "f***ing moron".

The tournament supervisor was subsequently convened on-court. After much back-and-forth, Rublev was defaulted from the match. While losing such a close encounter may have set off the Russian's poor string of results, he seems to have finally overcome it in Madrid.

Andrey Rublev has scored some quality wins at the Caja Magica this week, downing defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and seventh-seeded Taylor Fritz en route to his fifth-career ATP Masters 1000 final. During his press conference following his semifinal win over Fritz, the World No. 8 was asked whether his disqualification in Dubai helped him turn around his big-match mentality.

In response, Rublev claimed that there were many times before this year's Dubai Open that he had come dangerously close to a default, so it didn't have much of a bearing on his upswing in results this week.

"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," Andrey Rublev (via Punto de Break). "I like to think that I am learning, not only from the warnings, but from myself regardless of the situations I have been through."

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Andrey Rublev on Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev's injury woes: "Each tennis player knows where he should push more or less"

Daniil Medvedev retired from his Madrid Open QF due to a right leg injury

During the press conference, Andrey Rublev also fielded a question surrounding Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev picking up injuries before their respective losses at the Madrid Open. Alcaraz and Sinner have also pulled out of next week's Italian Open citing forearm and hip injuries.

Rublev alluded to the stress that tennis players' bodies go through every week, but did add that his peers should know when it gets too much.

"Whenever you jump onto a court, to train or play, there is a risk. When training you already go with a lot of intensity, so there is always risk," Andrey Rublev said. "I think it all depends on the moment. When you feel good, physically you also feel good and there is less chance of something happening to you."

"When you are tired or things are not going well for you, you have problems with your body. Each tennis player is responsible for himself and knows where he should push more or less."

Andrey Rublev will face first-time ATP Masters 1000 finalist Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final of the 2024 Madrid Open on Sunday (May 5). The Russian comes into the match as the favourite, as he leads the Canadian 4-1 in their head-to-head meetings on the pro tour.