"Winning Gold is amazing feeling" says a confident Rublev upon arrival in Toronto

Not many players have had a better 2021 than Andrey Rublev and the Russian added another success into his trophy cabinet by winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. It came in the mixed doubles where he and Pavlyuchenkova proved best. Asked about that experience he said:

“To be honest [winning gold] is an amazing feeling. Especially when you start to understand and realise how big it is, it’s an amazing feeling and it’s a big honour, I’m really thankful.”

For Rublev winning gold was big deal personally as it gave him confidence at the perfect time. The Russian did not enjoy his previous appearances in Canada playing two matches and losing both. He admitted that winning a medal gives him confidence that he is playing well and that it will continue:

“I want to think that I’m playing well. I want to think that after the Olympic Games I’m more confident. We’ll see, only time can show [that].”

The Russian received a 1st round BYE and will face Fabio Fognini in R2 of the event. He has a negative score vs the Italian 3-5 but won the last two matches played with the most recent one being at the 2021 Wimbledon.