"Last year, the organizers of the tournament in Barcelona behaved ugly, the Djokovic family, on the contrary, appreciates me" - Andrey Rublev on choosing Serbia Open over Barcelona Open

World No. 8 Andrey Rublev said that he opted to compete at the Serbia Open instead of the Barcelona Open last week because of the way the organizers of the tournament in Spain treated him last year.

Both tournaments took place at the same time, with the ATP 500 event in Barcelona being the more prestigious of the two. However, Rublev chose to compete at the Serbia Open, an ATP 250 event.

In an interview with Russian newspapers Sports Express and Izvestia, Rublev said that he chose Belgrade over Barcelona because the tournament organizers in the Catalonian city treated him very badly last year. He also said that the Djokovic family "appreciates" him, making his choice easy.

"Last year, the organizers of the tournament in Barcelona behaved ugly," Rublev said. "When I began to ask questions, I was told that this year everything would change. But it got worse. You need to know your worth, you can’t allow yourself to be treated like that. Plus, I knew that the Djokovic family, on the contrary, appreciates me. He will help to approach the tournament in excellent shape, provide everything you need. So the choice was clear."

Andrey Rublev won the Serbia Open by beating Novak Djokovic in the final

Andrey Rublev beat Novak Djokovic to win the Serbia Open

Andrey Rublev went on to win the Serbia Open by defeating Novak Djokovic in the final. He reached the title clash following wins over Jiri Lehecka, Taro Daniel and Fabio Fognini.

Rublev started strongly in the final and took the opening set 6-2. However, Djokovic fought back, as he had done all week, and was able to win the second set in a tie-break. The Russian, however, proved too strong in the third, bageling the exhausted World No. 1 to win the tournament.

This was Rublev's 11th career title and his third of the 2022 season, having previously won the Open 13 and the Dubai Tennis Championships. He also claimed his third title on clay, having previously triumphed at the 2017 Croatia Open and the Hamburg European Open in 2020.

Rublev remains eighth in the ATP rankings with 4,025 points, 85 behind World No. 7 Casper Ruud. The Russian has won 23 out of 28 matches so far this season and will look to carry his form into the Madrid Open starting on 1 May.