Andrey Rublev makes baby food confession in incredible interview after Madrid Open win
Andrey Rublev has revealed he is planning to visit medics to address serious health issues that so nearly derailed his Madrid Open bid, but he found a way to stagger over the finish line after a dramatic match against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Auger-Aliassime raced into a 4-1 lead with two breaks of serve and eventually took the opening set 6-4, but Rublev fought back to clinch the next two sets 7-5 and secure his second Masters 1000 title.
“I have no words,” said Rublev in his on-court interview. “If you knew what I had been through in the past nine days you would not imagine that I would be able to win a title.
“I’m incredibly happy. I have to give full credit to the doctors. They were doing some tricky things and I was at least able to play.
“I would say this is the most proud title of my career. I was almost dead every day. I was not sleeping at night. The last three, four days I didn’t sleep.”
Rublev arrived in the Spanish capital on a run of four straight defeats, but the seventh seed found a rich vein of form and his run to the title included one of the biggest wins of his career over Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.
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Rublev expanded on his medical issue in an extraordinary interview with Sky Sports Tennis, as he revealed he was forced to eat baby food as his throat seized up, while he was also suffering with a foot problem.
“In the beginning of this week, starting at the weekend, I had a virus. Tomorrow we got to the hospital to check,” he said.
“Half of my throat is blocked completely. And the first days I couldn’t eat because it was burning so I had to eat baby food. It was a disaster.
“Then when I start to feel a bit better, my throat became even more inflamed. Nothing helped, so doctors were doing some injections that allowed me to go on court.
“Then I started to get inflammation on my feet that started to affect the bones. I couldn’t put my feet inside the shoes.
“So this is a fairy tale week. I am so negative about myself always, but I feel so proud now.
“There are no thoughts. The last couple of nights, I’m waking up in pain, but it doesn’t matter now. I can sit for the week in the hospital.”
Rublev has battled with anger issues on court over the course of his career, but he suggested his illness may have helped him focus on something other than his own frustrations.
“In the end, I think it helped me,” he added. “I start to focus on everything because I need to save energy. I start to focus on the game. I couldn’t even say ‘come on’ because I had no voice.
“The first matches, since the beginning of the tournament, I have felt like I played well, but then the virus came. I stay in my room every day, room service. It was amazing.”
It was one of the more remarkable post-match interviews given by a newly crowned champion, with a Madrid Open that saw a host of high-profile withdrawals ending with the coronation of a champion who went through so much to get his hands on the trophy.
