"Inside completely panicking" - Andrey Rublev admits to overthinking Daniil Medvedev's 2023 upset after edging his conqueror at Australian Open 2024

Andrey Rublev has admitted to thinking about his compatriot Daniil Medvedev’s 2023 French Open upset during his opening-round thriller against Thiago Seyboth Wild at the 2024 Australian Open.

Brazil’s Seyboth Wild, ranked World No. 78, rose to prominence in 2023 when he knocked Daniil Medvedev out of the French Open in the opening round. While clay is Medvedev’s least favored surface, the 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-2, 3-6, 4-6 loss to the qualifier came as a surprise to the tennis world, given that the World No. 3 was coming off a spectacular win at the Italian Open just days before.

Daniil Medvedev’s compatriot and friend Andrey Rublev, who recently won the Hong Kong Open, found himself in a similar situation against Thiago Seyboth Wild at the ongoing 2024 Australian Open. The duo locked horns in the opening round on Sunday, January 14.

While Rublev, being 7-5, 6-4 up, looked poised to bag a straight-sets win, the Brazilian had other plans. Seyboth Wild clinched the next two sets 6-3, 6-4 to force a decider. In the 12th game of the fifth set, the Russian failed to convert three match-point opportunities, following which he found himself 1-4 down in the super-tiebreak.

In his on-court interview, Andrey Rublev admitted giving up mentally after overthinking about Daniil Medvedev’s loss to the 23-year-old.

“In my head, a lot of times [there was] Daniil’s match of Roland Garros. I was already thinking in the fifth set. When I had so many opportunities and I couldn’t take it, I was thinking, ‘Okay, for sure we’re going to see the same story like Daniil at Roland Garros,’” the Russian confessed. “And then, I don’t know, when I was losing 4-1 [in the super tiebreak], already mentally I gave up.”

The World No. 5 touched upon his mental state in his post-match press conference as well.

“I started to have this feeling like now for sure it's going to happen to me. Daniil, Daniil. Almost all the fifth set, every game at least one or two times I was thinking about what happened to Daniil because the fifth set I was inside completely panicking,” he said.

Rublev made a quick recovery in the super-tiebreak and eventually converted his fifth match point to earn a 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (6) win. The Russian said that giving up mentally ultimately helped him ease his nerves to eke out the win.

“And maybe that’s what helped me in the end. Because I felt a bit relieved,” he said on court.

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Andrey Rublev reaches Australian Open 2024 second round; Daniil Medvedev to start campaign on Monday

Daniil Medvedev (L) and Andrey Rublev pictured at the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships

Andrey Rublev is through to the second round of the Australian Open for the seventh time in his career. He will next face either Taro Daniel or Christopher Eubanks for a spot in the third round.

The Russian, who has reached nine Grand Slam quarterfinals [twice at the Australian Open (2021, 2023)], will look to go deeper this time around.

Daniil Medvedev, meanwhile, will commence his Australian Open run on Monday, January 15, against Frenchman Terence Atmane.

The Russian, a two-time finalist (2021, 2022), will hope to win his second Grand Slam title after the 2021 US Open.