"Hopefully we're going to see him at the US Open": Andrey Rublev shares visa doubt for Marat Safin, potentially out until Asian swing

Russia’s Andrey Rublev has opened up about when his coach, Marat Safin, will join him on the US tour. The 27-year-old is currently taking part in the Canadian Open, where he cemented his spot in the third round after beating France’s Hugo Gaston in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-3.

The win was an important one for Rublev, who was coming into the competition after losing his first match at the DC Open against America’s Learner Tien in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 6-2. Rublev is currently playing on the American tour without his coach, Safin. The former world number one started working with Rublev earlier this year.

Rublev spoke to The Tennis Channel after securing a win on Wednesday and was asked about when Safin will join him on the US tour. In response to that, Rublev revealed that Safin has not travelled to the US because of visa issues, and as soon as that is resolved, he will be able to fly and join him. Rublev also stated that if Safin’s visa issues are not resolved in time, he will then join him in China later in the year. “Marat is doing well,” said Rublev. “Hopefully, we're going to see him in the U.S. Open. He will be able to do visa on time. And if not, then China.”

Rublev also spoke about his performance during the interview in the match, where he dominated the proceedings from the word go. Rublev stated that he felt he was dictating the play from the start and suggested it was more down to his opponent’s play that he was able to do that. "Yeah, today I felt that [dictating] way,” said Rublev. “But it's normal because Gaston, his style of the game is more from counter-attack. He liked to run, he liked to break the rhythm, he liked to do a lot of drop shots, to do the serve and volley, return and volley, to break a rhythm. So it's a bit normal that also you have more. I think most of the players have a bit more. He's playing more second number than the first.”

Rublev then went on to speak about the challenges of playing on ‘fast surfaces’ in Toronto and highlighted how difficult it was to play in hot weather. Rublev also stated that it was important for him to secure a comfortable win as he is trying to improve certain areas of his play to become a better player overall.

“The courts are very fast,” said Rublev. “So the ball sometimes slides a lot after the bounce. that is tough to do something. Everyone is in the same conditions. It's a little bit better today [weather wise]. The last couple of days it's been pretty hot. It a different type of heat than DC. But I would say it is an easier type of heat to deal with. It's tough for me to say something because its one thing when you practice and it's hot, and another thing is when you're playing matches and it's hot. Today it was hot. It's true. I was struggling a bit. It's very important [to secure big wins]. I'm trying to improve it and I'm trying to do [winning net points] it more and more often on the matches and today I did it a lot of times and I really like it how I did it and it gave me a lot of points so yeah good I like to see you at the net me too I like to see you the problem is Okay it doesn matter But I like to see myself also Yeah I like to see you there too Look 14 out of 20 that means there no problem.”