John McEnroe shares verdict after Andrey Rublev ‘goes crazy’ as he also makes cheeky coaching suggestion
Andrey Rublev didn’t cross the professional line, but he did “cross a line for himself” during his latest meltdown at the French Open, according to tennis legend John McEnroe.
The sixth-seeded Rublev is no stranger to losing his cool on court as he has had several on-court outbursts with the most notable ones coming at last year’s ATP Finals in Turin, the Rotterdam Open in February this year and the Dubai Tennis Championships at the beginning of March.
The Russian’s meltdown in Dubai made headlines as he was thrown out of the tournament after he screamed at officials was accused of swearing at one of them in Russian, something he denied.
Rublev went through a dip after the Middle East disqualification as he made several early exits from tournaments, but he found form again in Madrid as he won the ATP Masters 1000 title.
However, his anger issues were once again highlighted at Roland Garros on Friday as he lashed out several times, smashed his racket and argued with officials during his 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, 6-4 defeat against Matteo Arnaldi in the third round.
WATCH: Andrey Rublev’s latest meltdown in shock French Open loss
Tennis great McEnroe, who was known for “going crazy” during his career”, believes Rublev should know when he has gone too far and then consider moving onto plan B.
“Whether or not he crossed a line is irrelevant at this point,” he told Eurosport. “I don’t think he crossed a line; he crossed a line for himself.
“Take it from someone who knows about going crazy, if you’re going to go crazy, you’ve got to know when you’ve got to pull back so you can keep your focus and concentration, and play well. If it’s helping you, which it often did with me, you keep doing it until they say ‘One more and you’re out’. If it’s not helping, you’ve got to go to a plan B.
“This has been a rough couple of months for Andrey. He got defaulted in the Middle East and that turned out not to be the right call. Then he went through a four-match losing streak; doesn’t beat anybody. Then he wins Madrid of all things having not won, so everyone was like, ‘Woah, maybe he can win this’. I don’t think his confidence was that high.”
The seven-time Grand Slam winner also revealed that he has been told he needs to coach Rublev.
The American added: “I’ve seen Rublev go crazy before. This isn’t the first time. He’s a guy that wears his emotions on his sleeve. My agent, Gary Swain, when Andrey was 15 or 16, told me ‘You got to coach the guy!’. In some ways, I think he was right. We were cut out for each other.”
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