"What's happening is terrible, you realize how important it is to have peace in the world and to respect each other no matter what" - Andrey Rublev on Russia-Ukraine crisis
Andrey Rublev expressed his views on a variety of topics during his press conference following his quarterfinal victory over Mackenzie McDonald in Dubai on Thursday. The Russian first touched upon his experience as a Russian athlete, before giving his thoughts on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis.
When asked whether he felt his national identity worked as a distraction during competitive matches, Rublev disclosed that he had received negative comments from tennis fans on social media in the past, which put him in a tough spot.
He did claim, however, that the best way to deal with such trolls was to ignore their comments altogether.
"Of course, I mean, I get some bad comments on Internet because I am Russian, so I get some aggressive comments like not in a good way," Rublev said. "But I mean, I cannot react to them because if I react on them, I'm going to show the same."
"If I want to have peace, I need to be like it doesn't matter. Even if they throw rocks to me, I need to show I'm for the peace," he added. "I'm not here to be aggressive or something, even if I'm not responsible for something."
It should also be noted that Rublev is partnering Ukraine's Denys Molchanov in Dubai this week in the doubles event. In that context, the media saw fit to probe him on whether the ongoing military crisis between Russia and Ukraine affected their dynamic at all.
In response, Rublev maintained that the situation in Ukraine was much more important than the duo's doubles match. The Russian then expressed hope for "peace in the world," implying that he doesn't agree with his home country's actions in the past few hours.
"I mean, I said in these moments you realize that my match is not important. It's not about my match, how it affects me. What's happening is much more terrible," he said. "Like I said, you realize how important is to have peace in the world and to respect each other no matter what, to be united. It's about that we should be taking care of our earth and of each other. This is the most important thing."
"For someone like me, the toughest part is emotions" - Andrey Rublev on Alexander Zverev's violent outburst in Acapulco
Rublev was also asked to weigh in on his good friend Alexander Zverev's violent outburst at Acapulco, which ultimately resulted in the German's disqualification from the ATP 500 tournament. Zverev hurled expletives at the chair umpire and repeatedly smashed his racket on the umpire's chair after losing his doubles match.
The Russian gave his own perspective on the German's controversy, claiming that it is often hard to contain emotions during matches.
"I think it's everything personal for everyone. For someone like me, for me the toughest part is emotions. For some players may be tougher thing to play more aggressively, for maybe other players opposite..." he said. "To play more defense because they don't really know how to play defense. Every person have different weakness that is tougher to change. In my case is the emotions."
Rublev will take on either Jannik Sinner or Hubert Hurkacz for a place in the final of this year's Dubai Tennis Championships. The Russian, who lost to Aslan Karatsev in the semifinals of last year's event, will be keen to reach his first-ever final in the Arab capital.