In an atypical edition of Mutua Madrid Open in which there were none of the great favorites to lift the title, Russian Andrey Rublev was crowned by beating Felix Auger-Aliassime by 4-6, 7-5 and 7-5 in almost three hours of play.
However, he hasn’t had it easy these days because a health problem which has given him a very bad time, even though on the court he has been winning all the matches he played, including against Carlos Alcaraz.
After rumors about his state of health, Fernando Vicente, the tennis player’s coach, spoke about it: “There will be no celebrations, tomorrow we have to go to the hospital to have some tests done”.
Those words were joined by those of Rublev himself, revealing a silent ordeal that makes this title even more special: “I felt almost dead every day. I didn’t sleep at night. “The last 3 or 4 days I barely slept.”
“It’s the first time I’ve felt so bad in my life. I can’t swallow, my head hurts, I don’t know if it’s angina, a virus. I’m loaded with medications, yes injections, pain pills…”, she assured.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve been sick for eight or nine days and that’s not normal. I haven’t gotten better. I’m still sick and I’ll have to go to the hospital for tests and see what happens.“he added.
In addition, he revealed that he had “a toe” anesthetized: “My finger and foot became swollen. I couldn’t even put my shoes on. “They had to anesthetize me so I wouldn’t feel the pressure on the bone.”
For that reason, Rublev also dedicated his victory to the tournament’s medical team: “They are the best. They are magicians. They did very complicated things so that I could at least play. I have to give them all the credit.”
