Russia’s tennis star Andrei Rublev condemns the war that troops from his home country have been waging in Ukraine for more than a year. “You can’t pretend nothing is happening because it’s terrible,” said the 25-year-old after his semi-final victory over Alexander Zverev.
Russian tennis pro Andrei Rublev, number six in the world, has condemned the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. “It’s crazy that so many ordinary people are suffering and dying. You can’t pretend nothing is happening because it’s terrible,” he said after his semi-final win over Olympic champion Alexander Zverev at the ATP tournament in Dubai.
“I just hope that soon there will be peace in every country. It doesn’t matter where. I hope that there will be peace in our countries,” said the 25-year-old. It’s hard to talk about, “because even if you try to just play tennis, keep training, you know it’s affecting you.”
A year ago, Rublev wrote “No war please” on a camera lens in Dubai shortly after the start of the Russian invasion. This time he wrote: “Wiktor Tsoi is alive”. Zoi, who died in 1990, was a Russian rock musician who, among other things, sang anti-war songs with his band. “It wasn’t an easy time back then. The lyrics he wrote gave people a lot of hope back then,” Rublev explained: “I only wrote it because I have the feeling that similar things are happening now, at this time. “
In the final he now meets his Russian compatriot Daniil Medvedev. The 27-year-old ended the outstanding series of Grand Slam record winner Novak Djokovic. After 20 successes in a row, the world number one from Serbia conceded his first defeat in 2023 in a 4: 6, 4: 6 against Medvedev. Djokovic has been unbeaten since winning the ATP finals in November. This year, the 35-year-old won the ATP tournament in Adelaide before securing his tenth triumph at the Australian Open.
