Russian Andrey Rublev spoke about winning the Laver Cup as part of the European team.
– Of course, this is a completely different competition. Firstly, it is a team one. Secondly, tennis players from different countries perform together with you. And third, you play alongside all the top players and on a regular round you are all rivals. And this format is completely different from our usual tournaments and even from team competitions.
– How did you feel in such a new format?
– It was actually very cool. When I used to look from the side, I did not understand a little. After all, it is still an exhibition tournament, unofficial. And I didn’t understand why the guys there were so happy. It's still unrated matches. And when you get there yourself and plunge into this atmosphere. You see this 20,000-seat stadium and it is completely packed. A lot of events before the match – all kinds of interviews, your opponents say: “We want to win, we have never won, we are determined to win.” And you yourself already have a competitive courage that you do not want to lose, but you want to give all your best. And when such a huge stadium, everyone looks at you and expects from you that you will play seriously, then it somehow plays by itself. You yourself begin to give all your best. Therefore, everyone played with full dedication.
– How do you like this format – super tie-breaks instead of the third set? Maybe something like this can be used at lower level tournaments?
– Well, first of all, the couple are now playing in the ATP tournaments. And I would not like to play alone. Then it will even less matter what physical form you are in. Because at least it so happened that the coverage was very slow and the rallies were very protracted. And if you take the usual coverage, on which most of the tournaments of the ATP tour are played, then with this format the matches will go very quickly. And some kind of rival, who may not be so strong physically, but on this day he feels everything better, and he will play against the one who is physically better than him, and as soon as the attention of that person sits down, he will outplay him. And this format will not allow you to do that. That is, such a player on the courage can play an hour, and during this time the whole match will end, and he won, – said Rublev.
The European team was represented by his compatriot Daniil Medvedev, as well as Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini and Kasper Ruud.
- Rublev on winning the Laver Cup: “Happy to be part of this incredible team!”