Watch: Andrey Rublev at his entertaining best as Diego Schwartzman, Lorenzo Musetti and others struggle to name ATP host cities from A-Z
Tennis professionals are also often avid globetrotters who shuttle between continents to keep pace with the packed ATP calendar, while those like Andrey Rublev have the uncanny ability to entertain both on and off the court.
A recent ATP video sought to ascertain just how well players remember the tournament venues. Titled Tennis IQ challenge, the video witnessed players attempting to recall the names of ATP tournament host cities from A to Z.
Competing for top honors in the challenge were Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune, Lorenzo Musetti, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Diego Schwartzman and Mikael Ymer.
The challenge for Davidovich Fokina began earlier than expected as he was unable to remember any host city that began with the alphabet A, even as his fellow competitors named Atlanta, Antwerp and Auckland with relative ease.
Rublev hilariously answered Sydney when asked to name a venue that began with the letter C before bursting into laughter. On the other hand, Diego Schwartzman pronounced Buenos Aires as only an Argentinian could to keep the entertainment going.
Tennis IQ Challenge: A-Z Tournament Cities
📽️ ATP Tour youtu.be/LvbqB3Uac3o https://t.co/uqFuhjIikJ
Cincinnati was the only city that the players could name that began with C, while the Russian took a while to remember Dubai even though he had won a tournament there earlier this year.
Mikael Ymer of Sweden surprisingly took a while to remember Stockholm, while Umag was one host city that nearly all the players recalled without breaking into a sweat.
Venues that began with Z presented a unique challenge because Zagreb and Zurich have ceased to be host cities for tennis. Rublev did, however, manage to remember Zhuhai, although he did struggle with the pronunciation before some of his colleagues on the tour got it right as well.
The tennis in Zhuhai was just sensational 🤤
Which of these remarkable rallies is your fave? #ZC19 https://t.co/Lnu4O2F4Ah
Davidovich Fokina ended up on top of the heap with 16 points, with Musetti and Schwartzman giving the Spaniard a close fight after amassing 15 points. Despite being the biggest entertainer, Rublev finished only in fourth place with 14 points, followed by Ymer (13 points). Holger Rune, meanwhile, struggled all the way to end up with a wooden spoon after managing to earn just 11 points.
Andrey Rublev fails to carry momentum into second half of 2022 season
Andrey Rublev made a promising start to the 2022 season with a title win in Marseille, where he got past Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final. He then reigned supreme in Dubai by defeating Jiri Vesely, who had accounted for Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.
Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev writes "No war please" on the camera following his advancement to the final in Dubai. https://t.co/GQe8d01rTd
The Russian lost to eventual champion Taylor Fritz in the semifinals of the Indian Wells Open. After early exits in Miami and Monte-Carlo, the World No. 9 upset Novak Djokovic in the final of the Serbia Open but was unable to carry the momentum forward.
A quarterfinal loss against Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals of the French Open was followed by a semifinal loss to Sebastian Baez at the Swedish Open.
Yet another semifinal defeat against Yoshihito Nishioka at the Citi Open and a quarterfinal loss against Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals of the US Open were the highlights of the second half of the 2022 season for the former World No. 4.
WHY NOT HIM?
Frances Tiafoe beats Andrey Rublev 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 and reaches the US Open SFs, the first time for him in a Grand Slam 🔥
He's #19 in the live ranking, will make his Top 20 debut next week ✨ https://t.co/2oZWO9Lzpg