‘I need to wake up,’ Andrey Rublev shares funny story of how he was nearly late for ATP Finals clash

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Andrey Rublev delighted after match

Andrey Rublev nearly didn’t make it for his ATP Finals clash against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas on Monday after his pre-match nap took a bit longer than anticipated.

The Russian opted for an afternoon snooze and three hours before the match he woke up dazed and confused from the kip, and had no idea what day it was.

Rublev beat world No 4 and 2019 champion Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 in their opening clash in Turin, Italy, but the 9pm start was clearly not something the Russian was used to.

“During the day, I had a lot of time and I decided to sleep,” Rublev told reporters.

“Normally I don’t sleep during the day – even if I try, I never fall asleep – and today I fell asleep for more than an hour.

“I set the alarm for 6:00 p.m. and when I woke up, it was so dark.

“I felt completely broken, like if someone wakes you up at 7:00am.

“I was thinking, ‘No, I’m not going to wake up now. I’m going to sleep for another half hour’

“Then I look at the time and it was 6:00 p.m… I start to realise, ‘Oh, I fell asleep during the day. I have a match in a couple of hours. I need to wake up’.”

Rublev, second in the Green Group, plays world No 1 Novak Djokovic in his second clash.

“He’s one of the greatest players in history, so I don’t know what to say,” Rublev said of the 20-time Grand Slam winner.

“I hope I’m going to win a couple of games, but the reality is the only thing I can do is to do my best and believe in myself.”

Andrey Rublev Novak Djokovic Stefanos Tsitsipas

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