Inside story on Andrey Rublev defying his doubters and meeting his music heroes
Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash has revealed Andrey Rublev has already achieved more than most expected from him when he was bursting through the tennis ranks.
Lacking the height and physical presence of many youngsters in the junior game, Rublev’s powerful ground shots caught the eye as he honed his skills at the Emilio Sánchez Academy in Barcelona.
Cash’s son Jett was a budding tennis player at the acclaimed Sánchez training base and he told his famous father about the young kid who was making a mark despite his lack of physical presence.
Rublev is the top seed at the Bank of China Hong Kong Open 2025 and Cash told us he has already defied some of those who doubted he had what it took to get to the top of the game.
“My son grew up playing at the Sanchez Academy in Spain and he told me about this Russian kid who was small and skinny and hit the ball so hard that they thought his arm was going to fall off,” Cash told Tennis365.
“He also told me that he lost his temper a lot and that rackets would fly everywhere and we still see that from him today.
“People didn’t think he’d make it at the top of the game because of his height and how skinny he was, but he’s done really well.”
Cash has gone on to develop a friendship with Rublev, with their shared love of rock music helping their bond.
“Rublev is a really nice guy,” continued Cash. “We have become friends because he is a big fan of Iron Maiden and I’ve pretty good friends with the guys in the band. So I got him backstage for a show in Cincinnati a few years ago.
“All of the band play tennis and I told them Rublev wanted to come and see them and they were really excited.
“They had just seen him beat Roger Federer after hitting winners all over the place. He had annihilated Federer and that’s the sort of player Rublev is. If he gets going and runs hot, he is almost unstoppable.
“He’s been on the tour for a few years now and it is tough to maintain that level year after year, but he has all the shots and just needs to add that little extra variety to his game to start winning consistently.”
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Rublev has been a consistent presence in the top 10 of the men’s rankings in recent years, but he has yet to get over the finishing line in the Grand Slams.
His explosive temper has been blamed for his failure to win one of the premier tournaments in tennis, but Cash suggests he needs more to his game than just power packed ground strokes.
“Channeling that temper would help him and he also needs to find ways to beat the best guys in the world,” he added.
“Hitting the ball hard and flat doesn’t always get the job done against the very best and Rublev has found that when he has got to the back end of Grand Slams.
“Now these next couple of years are crucial for him, but he needs to find a few extra gears.”
Rublev has been knocking on the door of the big-time in men’s tennis for a long time now and the challenge for the Russian in 2025 it find a couple of extra layers to his game as he looks to take the final step towards glory.
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