World No. 17 Andrey Rublev commented on his ranking drop following an early defeat at the Madrid Open. The Russian fell nine spots in the rankings today.
– Naturally, after the loss in Madrid, you dropped in the rankings. Is it easy for you to deal with this?
`I fell to rise (laughs). Honestly, it`s all good. It was probably expected anyway. So, on the contrary, it`s even good. It means we`ll rise better. And actually, I feel quite calm because I know the process we`re on now is the right one. Things are really getting better and better. I understand and feel it myself. It`s just about making that `click` in matches for everything to fall into place.`
– How is the process with Marat [Safin] progressing? What does the path he is showing you look like?
`There`s progress, it`s tough, but there is (smiles). With frustration, with pain, but it`s going in the right direction, so we`ll see.`
– There`s a possibility you`ll play Fonseca (Rublev lost to him in three sets at the start of the 2024 Australian Open). How do you assess his progress since Australia?
`We`ll see. There will be a match again, so it will be interesting. I`ll be interested to test myself because right now I don`t have confidence, but there is progress – and I`m interested myself to see what might come of it. It`s a kind of test for me that I`m looking forward to. I have nothing to lose, and I`m even curious to see what happens.`
