Andrey Rublev opens up about his demons – ‘The problem is the head, which basically killed me today’

Andrey Rublev admits his meltdowns during matches are psychological as he feels he is often too hard himself, adding that it has nothing to do with losing concentration.

The world No 6 once again hit the self-destructed button during his French Open third-round match against the unseeded Matteo Arnaldi on Friday.

Rublev lost control of his emotions as he admonished himself several times during the clash, kicked his courtside bench and smashed his racket into his legs and on the ground.

The 26-year-old has had similar episodes at the Dubai Tennis Championships in March and the Rotterdam Open in Friday with his behaviour in the Middle East leading to disqualification from the tournament.

The Russian offered the following explanation after his exit, saying: “Completely disappointed with myself the way I behaved, the way I performed, and I don’t remember behaving worse at a Grand Slam ever. I think it was the first time I ever behaved that bad. There is not much to say.”

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Rublev added: “I think it’s not about concentration. I think it’s because of the way I behave I put myself completely down, and I give Matteo wings to fly, and he was flying in the third set unbelievably. It was too late to do something.”

After his Dubai default, Rublev lost form as he suffered a string of early exits before winning the ATP Masters 1000 Madrid Open with many suggesting he could be a contender to win Roland Garros.

However, he never got going against Arnaldi as he admitted his problems were “in the head”.

“I don’t know what happened to me, I had a really good result in Madrid,” he said.

“Now I’m playing well again. What’s more, I feel like I have a good game, I’m improving. The problem is the head, which basically killed me today, and that’s it.”

Former British No 1 Tim Henman offered his views on Rublev’s meltdowns as he praised the Russian for accepting responsibility.

“It’s become a little bit psychological because you see the results he’s had on clay,” he told Eurosport .

“He won the Masters 1000 in Madrid, he’s won Monte Carlo before. He’s winning at tour level, but when he gets to the Grand Slams, getting past the quarter-finals [has] proved too difficult.

“Maybe that’s what happened today; it got too big a thing mentally. He’s self-destructed. If you’re going to go crazy, it does happen. But then you’ve got to be able to react and say, ‘Okay, I’ve let my frustration out, now I’ve got to start playing ball.’ It never happened.

“It was a very honest press conference. I like that; he wasn’t blaming anyone else. He said he was embarrassed by his behaviour, but now you’ve got to see the reaction.

“He’s been on tour a long time, and think ‘That was detrimental to my performance, I can’t let it happen again if I want to go further in the Slams.’”