"I am a little lucky to be number 5" says Andrey Rublev

Andrey Rublev has been on a steady rise over the past two years with the Russian finding himself currently ranked as number 5 in the world.

It's been a long time coming for Andrey Rublev who was able to break out slowly in the world of tennis. The Russian patiently worked his way to the top with consistent play and tremendous form in ATP 500 events. The Russian arrived in Indian Wells in good form with hopes of continuing that in the desert. Speaking ahead of the event he also reflected on his rise and ranking saying:

“ My place as world number 5? I’m a little lucky. It’s true that I had a good season, surely my best. But I took advantage of the fact that Rafael Nadal doesn’t play a lot of tournaments. Dominic Thiem was also injured. Both have lost a lot of points in the standings."

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His assessment is true as he benefitted from both of those players not playing but even without that, he would be firmly ranked inside the top 10 which is a great achievement as well. Rublev is almost guaranteed a spot at the ATP Finals in Turin after playing the event last year.

He finished up his thoughts with:

“I passed them but I was a bit lucky.”

How far can he go remains to be seen but it's been the best year of his career so far, without question.