World No. 15 Andrey Rublev shared his thoughts ahead of his third-round match at Roland Garros against Arthur Fils. The head-to-head record between the two players currently stands at 1-1.
When asked about preparing for the encounter with Fils, particularly considering their previous match in Monte Carlo which he lost, and the potential involvement of Marat Safin, Rublev stated: “It`s hard to talk about the specifics of the preparation yet. I know Fils is having a great season; he`s playing confidently against top opponents and had an excellent match against Alcaraz. I feel better now than I did in Monte Carlo, and my game is currently at a higher level. Also, I haven`t played against French players on the main courts here before, so we`ll see how this first experience goes.”
Discussing the continuation of his collaboration with Marat Safin beyond their initial agreement for the clay court season, Andrey confirmed his desire to keep working together. However, he clarified that Safin does not intend to become a permanent, full-time coach. “I would like to continue working with him,” Rublev said, “but it`s clear that he won`t be a full-fledged coach because he doesn`t want that himself. I know he likes to live by his own schedule, whereas a coaching role requires your schedule to be built around the tournaments and training sessions. He prefers freedom: if he can come for five days to train, that`s great, but then he also needs another five days to be by himself.”
