"No one athlete in the history of sport is as mentally strong as Rafael Nadal" - Andrey Rublev

World No. 7 Andrey Rublev believes Rafael Nadal is the mentally strongest athlete in the history of sport. The Russian also lauded the Spaniard's 2022 Australian Open final triumph over Daniil Medvedev, saying he has never seen anything else like it in his life.

Nadal recovered from 0-2 down in sets to defeat Medvedev in an epic Australian Open final in January to win a men's record 21st Grand Slam title. It is the only time Nadal has won a Major title match after losing the first two sets.

The 35-year-old has won two of his three matches against Rublev, with the Russian winning the pair's last encounter in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Monte Carlo Masters. Nadal and Rublev are both in action at the ongoing 2022 Indian Wells Masters, where they could meet in the final.

In an interview with The Times of India, Rublev marveled at the Mallorcan's focus and ability to stay present during matches.

"No one athlete in the history of sport is as [mentally] strong as Rafa," Rublev said. "In an individual sport you can struggle a lot mentally. If you fight with someone close on the morning of the match, you are disturbed, but you still need to play. In a team sport, if you are not in a good mood, but your team is good and in the right mood, you don’t feel it. Rafa is the only one who manages it, doesn’t matter what happens outside the court. Somehow, he’s able to completely turn it off and just be in the moment."

The 24-year-old then discussed Nadal's remarkable comeback against his compatriot Medvedev in Melbourne.

"He can do that even when he’s losing," Rublev continued. "In the first set [of the Australian Open final], he couldn’t put in even one ball. He was really tight. Then he’s losing two sets to love, and Daniil had opportunities in the third set at 0-40, He just swallowed and swallowed everything, not one word of complaint. In the end, he was leading, serving for the match but couldn’t make it. Not one word of complaint. Then he won it! I have never seen something like this in my life."

"People were supporting Rafa more because he is Rafa -one of the greatest in the history of sport" - Andrey Rublev on Australian Open crowd support for Nadal

Rafael Nadal during the 2022 Australian Open final

Andrey Rublev also gave his thoughts on the overwhelming crowd support for Rafael Nadal during his Australian Open final victory over Daniil Medvedev. Medvedev expressed his disillusionment at the lack of backing he received in an emotional press conference after the final.

"I don’t know what Daniil was feeling in that moment, you cannot judge someone when you haven’t been in that situation," Rublev said. "Obviously, people were supporting Rafa more because he is Rafa - one of the greatest in the history of sport. He was playing for his 21st Grand Slam that’s why people were supporting him more."

The World No. 7 also addressed the question of whether Russian players sometimes receive unfair treatment from crowds.

"Maybe in some countries, when they know I’m Russian they are a bit like… I don’t know," said the 24-year-old. "I am relaxed with this. I know who I am and hopefully when people meet me and talk to me, they see that not everyone is like… I don’t know, whatever it is that they think."

"Sometimes I feel tension, energy in some countries," added Rublev. "When they don’t know you are Russian, they are more friendly, but when they know you are Russian, they think you can be aggressive or something. There’s nothing you can do about this. I can be a good person and that’s it."

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