Andrey Rublev has given a trademark candid interview about his wild five-set win over Alex de Minaur.
The No.5 seed admitted he feared he would lose when he went down two sets to one but told himself to battle out the match,no matter what it cost him.
“Amazing match to Alex,” Rublev told Jim Courier with a smile.
“Two days ago I hoped we would play an amazing match and spectators would enjoy it,now I’m beginning to regret that.”
“When I was down two sets to one,I said to myself “you will die today but you will do everything”.
“Then I played better and better and was able to win.”
Rublev was hurting in the fifth set despite winning it 6-0 and admitted he had used a lot of energy and was hurting in the last set.
“When you play four hours,long rallies you start to feel some pain but it is normal with intensity like this. I just tried to push myself. Don’t cry,don’t feel sorry for yourself,” Rublev said.
“You keep fighting and see what happens.”
He has Italian star Jannik Sinner next up and he may have used up too many energy to get this win.
“Jannik is one more player who is had an unreal season last year and is amazing this year,” he said.
“He beat me last time,it looks like I’m in trouble but I will do my best.”