Andrey Rublev lost his cool very early in his Miami Masters match against Zizou Bergs and smashed his racket only five games into the clash.
With the 51st-ranked Belgian having a game point, the Russian sprayed a miss hit. And just moments after his ball went near the stands, the 17-time ATP champion got extremely annoyed with himself and took his frustration on a racket. A code violation for racket abuse followed.
It should be mentioned that two games earlier, Rublev failed to convert his first break point. So that may have also caused his frustration.
5 games in and Andrey Rublev already recieved a code violation warning for racket abuse.
Shanked a ball on return against Zizou Bergs and then smashed his racket against his foot.
Rublev to serve at 2-3 down in set 1.pic.twitter.com/BOhwWHSo4x
— edgeAI (@edgeAIapp) March 22, 2025
Rublev picked up a third consecutive defeat in Miami
After taking it out on his racket, the No. 8 seed lost his serve at the worst possible time – when he was serving to stay in the first set in the 12th game. While he bounced back at the start of the second set and eventually opened a 4-2 lead, he failed to capitalize and lost the match in two sets after Bergs won the next four games to complete a 7-5 6-4 victory.
For Rublev, it was his third consecutive loss as he also lost his openers in Dubai and Indian Wells.
However, fans were more concerned about the Russian’s racket outburst than his early Miami exit. Just last month, the 27-year-old said in one of his interviews that he was at “a neutral state” – not happy nor sad. But compared to last year – when he was battling major depression and even turned to self-harm at times – it’s an improvement.
Hopefully, the Miami incident isn’t an indication that Rublev’s state is worsening.
Tennis World USA