"It started to explode": Andrey Rublev admits dealing with depression for many years after cementing spot in Canadian Open final

Russia’s Andrey Rublev has opened up about dealing with depression and burnout after having an impressive outing in the Canadian Open. The 26-year-old has been regarded as one of the most talented players currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category.

Despite having abundance of talent, the current world number six has failed to produce positive results consistently throughout his career. Many blames that on him short tempered, something that has been visible on many occasions during his career where he had numerous on-court outbursts.

Rublev is currently taking part in the Canadian Open, where he booked his place in the final after beating Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets with a score of 6-4 and 6-2. Before that, in the quarterfinals, he got the better of the world number one Italy’s Jannik Sinner with a score of 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. The Moscow-born was recently quoted in a report where he opened up about dealing with depression and burnout during his career. He also explained that he has been dealing with depression for many years but this year, it took an extra toll on him and he started to feel like it would ‘explode.’

"I feel great and I'm happy to have won both matches today,” he said. “For me it’s a special moment because I was struggling for many months. Mentally I was out of order. I guess it was already a long moment of everything (building up) and I started to burn out, because I was struggling for many years with depression, with many things outside of the court. I guess this year, it’s when I can’t handle it anymore, and it starts to just explode... It started to explode more and more on the court, because in life I was able to stay calm but inside the court I was burning everything.”

Rublev will face Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the competition's final on Monday. The 25-year-old defeated America’s Sebastian Korda in the semifinal in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-3.