Dubai, Feb 23 (BUS): Andrei Rublev was afraid of being knocked out early in the Dubai after arriving late in the tournament, but the Russian said controlling his emotions helped him secure an unexpected victory over Britain’s Daniel Evans on Tuesday. .
Rublev converted his seventh match point to defeat Evans 6-4 7-5 in the first round in Dubai, two days after winning the singles and doubles titles in Marseille, Reuters reported.
The 24-year-old said he arrived in Dubai at 2am on the day of the match against Evans, and it didn’t leave him with much confidence.
“I was thinking I had no chance,” Rublev told reporters. “I’m very happy (with the win) because I didn’t expect it.”
The world number seven said he warmed up longer than usual and vowed to stay focused throughout the match to give himself a chance to make a strong start at the ATP 500 hardcourt event.
Rublev added, “The only chance to win today was to behave well…emotionally discipline, not show negative things, not complain, not say bad things.”
“If let’s say I’m broken, (at) I want to destroy everything. I know if I start doing that, I’m going to play worse because I don’t feel the ball well and I can’t let that happen.
“I need to stay focused on feeling the ball… I was missing match points. And all of a sudden I’m making a pass (shot) out of nowhere. I think if I was going to start complaining after all those match points, I wouldn’t. A passing shot.”
Rublev, the second seed in Dubai, next plays South Korea’s Kwon Sun-Woo.