Andrey Rublev has supported countrymen Ivan Gakhov at the Monte-Carlo Masters by providing the Russian with his unused Nike uniforms from last year.
While many tennis fans are used to the glamour of being a top player there is a much less glamorous side to tennis when you move away from the top 100. Players grinding for every point and match needed the prize money to support their careers is a very harsh reality which not many think about. It's one of the reasons why Djokovic founded the PTPA in order to support players that are not highly ranked as their tennis careers are literally a fight for survival.
Ivan Gakhov is one of those tennis players who broke out in Monte-Carlo this year getting a chance to play against Novak Djokovic after qualifying for the event. He did so by wearing the former uniform of Rublev who provided him with it in order to be able to compete. Gakhov rushed to Monaco after getting into the qualifiers by virtue of 5 higher ranked players pulling out.
Another proof that Andrey Rublev has a heart of gold: Ivan Gakhov played Monte-Carlo in clothes from the 2022 Nike line, but he's not sponsored by Nike... In fact, it was Rublev (who started his own brand in 2023) who gave Gakhov his unused clothes to support his career 👏
