Andrey Rublev recently lost his cool and smashed his racquet multiple times after he lost to Brandon Nakashima in the second round of the 2024 Barcelona Open.
Rublev lost the first set 4-6 and the second set was tied at 6-6. In the tiebreak, Nakashima was up 7-6 when Rublev hit the shot long, thus bowing out of the Barcelona Open.
The Russian took out his frustration on the racquet by repeatedly smashing it before approaching the net for a customary handshake.
Rublev's 2024 season has been embroiled in controversy and shock losses. He recently suffered disqualification at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships as he yelled at the line umpire.
In his semi-final match against Alexander Bublik, Rublev disagreed with a call made by the line umpire and screamed at him, which was deemed an offense that earned him a disqualification.
Rublev opened up after the controversy as he took to his X (formerly Twitter) account to thank the appeal committee for reinstating his ranking points and prize money from the tournament.
"I want to thank the appeal committee for approving my appeal and changing course on the ATPs initial decision of disqualifying me from the Dubai semifinal and taking away the rankings points and prize money I earned last week," Andrey Rublev wrote.
He also said that he was grateful for the messages and support he got, adding that he would learn from his mistake.
"While I am disappointed that I wasn’t able to finish my semifinal in Dubai, I am grateful for all the support I had from you the last two days, I received a lot of messages. Thank you to everyone supporting me, I promise I will learn from this and will try to be a better player and better person," he added.
How did Andrey Rublev fare in the lead-up to Barcelona Open disappointment?
Andrey Rublev is currently on a four-match losing streak after his loss at the Barcelona Open. The streak began at the Indian Wells Masters, where he lost to Jiri Lehecka 4-6, 4-6 in the third round. He then picked up another defeat in the Miami Open to Tomas Machac with an identical scoreline.
Rublev's next loss came at the Monte-Carlo Masters, where he was the defending champion. He lost to Alexei Popyrin 4-6, 4-6. His most recent loss came at the Barcelona Open to Brandon Nakashima 4-6, 6-7(6).
The Russian started the year strong with a title at the Hong Kong Open. He followed it up with a quarterfinal run at the Australian Open, losing to eventual champion Jannik Sinner. He also reached the quarterfinals at the Rotterdam Open as well as at the Qatar Open.
The Russian reached the semifinals at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where he lost after being disqualified. He won his second-round match against Andy Murray at the Indian Wells Masters, which was the last match he won.