Andrey Rublev’s anger explodes once again as he is beaten in Rotterdam

Andrey Rublev has admitted he needs to control his anger to achieve realise his ambitions on court, but that problem caught up with him as he lost to Alex De Minaur in Rotterdam.

Di Minaur was beaten by Rublev at the Australian Open last month, as he lost the last set in a five-set thriller 6-0 against his Russian rival.

Yet he gained sweet revenge against Rublev to reach the semi-finals in Rotterdam, as he found a way to win 7-6(5) 4-6 6-3 in a highly competitive contest.

“I kept telling myself to be brave and go after it because ultimately I can’t just run around against Andrey,” said De Minaur.

“He’s got too much power, too many weapons, and he’ll just dictate me from one side to the other.

“So if I want to be effective against Andrey, I’ve got to back myself, I’ve got to try to be aggressive and hit the ball flatter and bigger than I normally do. In big moments, I played great, and it got me the win today.”

The outbursts of anger were always close to the surface for world No 5 Rublev, who screamed his annoyance as he lost the first set after an inspired burst of play from De Minaur in the tie break.

Rublev drew blood after smashing his racking into his knee in the first set and he was given a code violation in the final game of the match after screaming obscenities amid his annoyance.

READ MORE: Nick Kyrgios makes unlikely offer to help Andrey Rublev solve his anger issues

Once again, the incidents highlighted one of the big issues Rublev is battling and he opened up on his anger problems in an exclusive interview with Tennis365 in December.

“You work on it every day,” Rublev told Tennis365. “There are many things in life that are stressing us out and make us very angry.

“You can practise how to be calm when you want to explode everything. Then my coach has the psychology lessons.

“I have lost some matches because of myself. That is the reality and that makes it harder.

“To play your best you need a clear mind, but my emotions don’t always let me do that. I know I need to work on it, but it is not easy.”

“In the bigger matches, when you want it most, that is when it is hard to control emotions.”

Tennis hot-head Nick Kyrgios offered to help Rublev last year, as he suggested his experience of ‘losing his mind’ on court could allow him to help Rublev tackle his demons.

“I think he’s just got to be a bit nicer to himself,” said Kygios.

“I’ve said over and over again that he’s had a great season, won Monte Carlo. You look at all the past champions that won Monte Carlo, it’s an amazing accomplishment.

“I think mentally if you’re going to get so angry and anxious all the time, you just feel drained by the quarter-final stage.

“So if he can maybe just channel those emotions a bit better, I can’t believe I’m saying that, but if he can channel your emotions a bit better maybe he can get past the quarter-finals.”

Rublev continues to knock on the door of the game’s biggest prizes, but it seems unlikely he will kick down the down in a Grand Slam unless he finds a way to stay calm when the pressure is ramped up to its highest level.