"My level of tennis has reached a ceiling" - Andrey Rublev bereft after early Shanghai loss, parts ways with fitness coach
ATP
Following another disappointing loss on the ATP Tour, former World No.5 Andrey Rublev appears to be making changes to his coaching team as he has parted ways with Marcos Borderias, his fitness coach.
Rublev faced Japanese player Yoshihito Nishioka in the opening round at the 2025 Shanghai Masters, with the Russian expected to find a way past his opponent. However, it was Nishioka who defeated the 13th seed, recording a 2-6 6-1 6-4 victory to send Rublev packing in the early stages of yet another tournament.
The Russian has been on a disappointing run since reaching the round of 16 at last month's US Open. Rublev fell to Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime at Flushing Meadows, and has lost three consecutive matches after being ousted in New York.
Although the 27-year old won a title at the Qatar Open earlier this year, he currently looks like a shell of his former self. The World No.14 added former Grand Slam champion Marat Safin to his coaching team this summer, and has made more changes in order to change his fortune.
Rublev parts ways with fitness coach after Shanghai exit
Marcos Borderias, Rublev's fitness coach for the last three years, announced his departure from the Russian's team. The Spanish coach took to social media to share a message after their successful partnership came to an end.
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"Closing an amazing three-year chapter full of learning, growth and great experiences,” Borderias wrote on Instagram. “Grateful for the opportunity and everything I’ve lived along the way,” he explained as Rublev continues his introspective look into his career."
Following his loss to Nishioka at the Shanghai Masters, Rublev was brutally frank about his current level of play.
"It’s not that they’ve figured out my game,” said Rublev in his post-match conference. “It’s just that my level of tennis has reached a ceiling. That’s it. Either I continue to be stuck in the top 20, with all the young players pushing me down the rankings further and further, or try to drastically change everything and give myself a chance for the rest of my career."
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Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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