Andrey Rublev (tennis)

Andrey Andreyevich Rublev (russian: Андрей Андреевич Рублёв; born 20 October 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 5 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in September 2021. Rublev has won 12 ATP Tour singles titles. He has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 53, achieved on 15 August 2022. He has won three doubles titles and is an Olympic gold medalist, winning the mixed doubles title at the 2020 Summer Olympics with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.In his junior career, Rublev won the 2014 French Open singles title, defeating Jaume Munar in the final. He won the bronze medal in singles and the silver in doubles at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing. Rublev broke into the top 10 of the ATP Tour in October 2020. He has reached the quarterfinals of the Australian, French and US Opens, and was part of the successful Russian Davis Cup team in 2021. He won his first doubles title at the 2015 Kremlin Cup with Dmitry Tursunov, and among his singles titles are home victories in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Personal life

Rublev was born in Moscow to Andrey Rublev Sr., a former professional boxer turned restaurant manager, and Marina Marenko (née Tyurakova; russian: links=no, Тюракова), a tennis coach at the Spartak Tennis Club. His mother worked with tennis players such as Anna Kournikova and received the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" in 2009. She is also the mother of Anna Arina Marenko, Rublev's older half-sister and former professional tennis player.

Rublev has Austrian ancestry on his paternal side, through his grandmother Larisa Genrikhovna Rubleva. He often credits his paternal grandparents for raising him as a child for five days a week until he was 15. Rublev denies the claims his mother used to be harsh towards him: "She was definitely not harsh. My parents always did everything for me. They love me very much". His maternal grandfather, Andrey Fyodorovich Tyurakov was a pro-coach in freestyle wrestling, an amateur tennis player and doubles partner of Boris Sobkin, a coach of professional tennis player Mikhail Youzhny and sparring partner of Grand Slam doubles champion Olga Morozova in her prime years.

In 2013, however, Belarusian Sergey Tarasevich became his other coach. Then Tarasevich was replaced by Fernando Vicente from Spain. Outside tennis, Rublev practices boxing and basketball, and he is particularly interested in Mike Tyson. Rublev is also pretty serious about creating his own electronic music like his heroes – Martin Garrix and Alan Walker. Rublev is nicknamed the "Rubl'" which means the Russian word 'ruble'. He speaks Russian, English, and Spanish, and also is a longtime fan of the Golden State Warriors (NBA), and has been regularly following soccer matches as a supporter of FC Barcelona.

Unlike his key tennis idols growing up – Rafael Nadal and Marat Safin – Rublev is Orthodox Christian and can be regularly seen crossing himself after matches.

Junior career

Rublev debuted in Luxembourg at age 13, getting his first win in his second competition in Phoenix. In the following years, Rublev could climb the third rounds in singles and in December 2012 he won one of the top junior competitions, the Orange Bowl.

Next, in spring of 2013, Rublev achieved the NWU PUKKE/RVTA Junior ITF 1 cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa. He successfully competed in following tournaments, especially on clay surface, including the Trofeo Bonfiglio in Milan, and became quarter-finalist at the 2014 Australian Open junior singles. At the doubles competition he paired with German Alexander Zverev, reaching the quarter-finals. The first notable win was at the 2014 French Open junior singles, crushing Jaume Munar. There he also reached the semifinals with partner Stefan Kozlov, before being knocked down by Frenchmen and future winners Benjamin Bonzi / Quentin Halys.https://www.itftennis.com/en/players/andrey-rublev/800330482/rus/jt/s/titles/ He became ITF Junior player World No. 1 on 9 June 2014 after winning the 2014 Junior French Open.

Shortly before Wimbledon, Rublev captured the cup at the Nike Junior International Roehampton in Roehampton, Great Britain. In the Wimbledon Championships, Rublev reached the third round before being beaten by 1842nd-ranked Dutch van Rijthoven in three tight sets. In doubles, Rublev and Kozlov lost to Brazilians Orlando Luz and Marcelo Zormann in three sets, attaining his first junior Grand Slam final in doubles.

Rublev took a break before competing at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, where he played in all three events as first-seeded. In singles, he lost to Kamil Majchrzak in three sets, but received a bronze medal for beating Jumpei Yamasaki. Partnering with fellow Karen Khachanov in doubles, Rublev reached the finals, where they again lost to Brazilians Luz and Zormann. He and his mixed partner Darya Kasatkina only reached the second round, where they were defeated by silver medalists Ye Qiuyu and Yamazaki.

In April 2015, Rublev finished his junior career by winning the inaugural ITF Junior Masters in Chengdu, China. In the final, the Russian beat Taylor Fritz in three sets.

Professional career

2013-2014: Early career and Davis Cup debut

Rublev debuted at the Bulgaria F6 Futures, reaching the quarterfinals. He continued his career in Bulgaria, where he again reached the quarterfinals, but became runner-up in doubles. The 15-year-old reached his first ITF Futures final in 2013 in Minsk, Belarus. After an unsuccessful fall, he recorded his first win at the USA F31 Futures in Bradenton, United States.

In the 2014 Tour he started in Kazakhstan, reaching a semifinal and a final in the two Futures events in Aktobe, respectively. In the latter he beat Belarusian Yaraslav Shyla for his second win. Rublev reached the final of the Czech F1 Futures in doubles, partnering with Pole Andriej Kapaś, and continued his success in the Russian F3 Futures in Moscow, becoming champion in singles and runner-up in the doubles competition.

2015: ATP debut, First doubles title

In 2015, Rublev entered his first ATP tournament in Delray Beach, where he reached the second round losing to Steve Johnson in straight sets.

Rublev made his debut at the Davis Cup, where in the second round play-off of the Europe Zone Group I, in the third rubber, he partnered with Konstantin Kravchuk and won the match against the Portuguese team Gastão Elias / João Sousa in three sets.

The Russian participated at his first Masters 1000 entry in Miami, where he defeated Pablo Carreño Busta, but lost to John Isner. He entered the clay season at the Barcelona Open