Andrey Rublev builds his perfect tennis player – ‘I would go with Novak…’
Andrey Rublev was recently asked to build his perfect tennis player and, unsurprisingly, legends Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer feature several times.
Current world No 8 Rublev was told he could use the attributes of any retired and current players – including himself – to create the ultimate tennis player that would no doubt rule the world if he competed on the ATP Tour.
He selected three different characteristics from Nadal and Djokovic, and two from Federer with some of them pretty obvious as very few people would disagree with selection Djokovic when it comes to perfect player on the return of serve.
Rising star and current world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz also gets a mention while there are also a couple of surprise inclusions in the form of Dan Evans from Great Britain and Italian Matteo Berrettini, and a blast from the past in former world No 1 Marat Safin.
FOREHAND – Rafael Nadal
“I will go with the forehand of Nadal. The way he accelerates is excellent it is so tough to do something [about it].”
BACKHAND – Novak Djokovic
“He can do anything with that backhand.”
SERVE – John Isner or Nick Kyrgios or Reilly Opelka
“All these players for me.”
RETURN – Novak Djokovic
“I would go with Djokovic again as he finds a way to break everyone.”
SLICE – Dan Evans or Matteo Berrettini
“Who were sliding slices? Evans or Matteo. They both know how to slice and they execute it perfectly. They are not defending with the slice, they use it to attack.”
NET GAME – Roger Federer
“Have you ever seen him play? If so, you shouldn’t ask me this question.”
TOUCH – Roger Federer
“He has an amazing touch.”
SPEED – Carlos Alcaraz or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
“They are both fast.”
FLEXIBILITY – Novak Djokovic
“I don’t know exactly how far this term encompasses, but Novak is one of the most flexible players on the court.”
MENTAL STRENGTH – Rafael Nadal
“For me he has the best mentality.”
COMPETITIVENESS – Rafael Nadal
“The answer is the same as the previous question.”
CELEBRATION – Marat Safin
“He knows how to celebrate.”
Back in 2020 Djokovic and Andy Murray were asked to build their perfect player and they had some similar selections as they also went for the Kyrgios, Isner combination for serve, the volley from Federer and the mentality from Nadal. Oh and of course, there were a couple of Djokovic and Murray selections.
READ MORE: ‘Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic messed up everybody’s expectation of what is normal’
