The 'new me' is ready to emerge: Resurgent Andrey Rublev searches for redemption in Paris

After hitting what he calls a "dead end" with his mindset, Andrey Rublev is ready to turn the page. The Russian is into the fourth round at Roland Garros, granted passage by the unfortunate withdrawal of Arthur Fils, who pulled out with a back injury ahead of their third-round encounter.

A former junior champion in Paris, Rublev has twice reached the quarterfinals on these courts. However, his recent record in the French capital has been less encouraging, with two consecutive third-round exits exposing the fragility of his clay-court campaigns. Now, with world number one Jannik Sinner waiting under the lights of Court Philippe-Chatrier, Rublev faces not just a challenge of skill, but a test of nerve and self-belief.

“I don’t think it’s more about the game,” Rublev told reporters earlier this week as per Tennis.com. “It’s more about myself. Last week (in Hamburg) I did well. I was kind of improving. I was in the right direction...”

Sinner holds the edge in their rivalry, leading 6-3 in head-to-head meetings. Still, Rublev is one of the few players who managed to beat the Italian during his breakout 2023 season, pulling it off in Vienna with fearless baseline hitting and a rare sense of inner calm. That version of Rublev has been hard to find, although he says change is coming, and Paris might be the first place we see it take shape.

Rublev’s year began with a tough setback in Australia, where he suffered one of the most painful defeats of his career, losing in five sets to 17-year-old João Fonseca, who was making his Grand Slam debut. He then bounced back strongly, claiming the title in Doha with impressive wins over Jack Draper, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Alex de Minaur.

Nevertheless, his clay-court season proved challenging. He managed just three wins across four tournaments, his title defence in Madrid ended prematurely, and his ranking slipped outside the top fifteen for the first time in years.

That moment marked the start of a profound shift. According to his longtime coach Fernando Vicente, Rublev began working regularly with a psychologist, reshaping his routines and transforming how he dealt with failure.

Part of that rebuild has involved welcoming new influences for a "new me" to emerge. Chief among them is Marat Safin, the former world number one whose own career was marked by brilliance and volatility. While Safin is not a full-time coach, Rublev has leaned on him for guidance over the past year.

The Russian tennis star says Safin, “enjoys his freedom: He can come for five days and train, and that’s great, but then the next five days he wants to be with himself.”.

Rublev, the No. 17 seed, will face top seed Jannik Sinner on Monday night inside Court Philippe-Chatrier, with a place in the Roland-Garros quarterfinals on the line.