Andrey Rublev talks channeling emotions "in the right way" on Caroline Garcia's podcast

With his victory at the Madrid Open, Andrey Rublev successfully turned the page on a dismal chapter in his career, having arrived in the Spanish capital on the back of four consecutive losses and departing—after a two-day hospital stay—with his second ATP Masters 1000 trophy.

But tapping into the mental calm and balance that the famously mercurial Russian needs to employ his world-beating game on a consistent basis? That’s still a work in progress by his own admission—as Rublev revealed in a wide-ranging interview in the latest episode of the Tennis Insider Club podcast.

“If (only) it was like this, that you could do like a massage and your mental energy is a bit more recovered like your physical!” Rublev laughed with hosts Caroline Garcia, ranked WTA world No. 23, and partner Borja Duran. “That would be perfect.”

On the fifth episode of the Tennis Insider Club, Rublev caught up with Garcia and Duran in Indian Wells for a pensive chat just days after his controversial default in Dubai. Touching on his rise up the ranks as a touted junior, his relationship with longtime coach Fernando Vicente and the injuries that once kept him out of the game, the conversation also turned to 26-year-old’s often explosive on-court behavior—and why he sometimes finds himself boiling over.

“I play aggressive when I feel that everything is fine. When I feel like today is not my day, then I’m getting too tight and I start to push the ball. There is no middle. I start to play too passive sometimes without hitting at all,” Rublev explained.

“It takes a lot of energy and it takes a lot of focus (to play my style of tennis). When you feel mentally more tired then it’s much tougher to play this style of game. You feel like you’re empty, you have no energy to hit, no energy to think, and it’s not easy.

“Even if I feel physically tired, I can still push myself. But if I feel emotionally tired—maybe after some matches or maybe (if) I spent too much energy on stupid things—then I have no energy to play.”

Speaking in Indian Wells, Rublev would have no idea just how prophetic this statement would turn out to be: An uncharacteristically flat Rublev would lose four of his next five matches, crashing out of the Sunshine Swing, failing to defend his Monte Carlo title and falling to Brandon Nakashima in the opening round in Barcelona. In Madrid, Rublev battled injury and illness and indeed pushed through the physical discomfort of an inflamed toe and what would later turn out to be a tonsillar abscess that required emergency medical treatment. He still found a way to take down defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz before rallying for a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final.

That never-say-die attitude is also part of the reason why Rublev says it’s not his on-court mentality that’s holding him back from reaching even greater heights, like a Top 3 ranking or Grand Slam title—despite what most what pundits and experts would have you believe.

“I wouldn’t say mental (is my biggest challenge) but to put emotions in the right way. Because the mental part? I would say I don’t give up, I try to fight, it doesn’t matter who I play,” Rublev explained. “If I need to lose then OK, I accept, but if I have a chance to win I will also go for it.

“So with these things I would not say I have problem, but to put emotions in the right way… I have a problem and I’m struggling. Sometimes I’m too emotional and I’m destroying myself, sometimes the opposite: I’m not emotional enough and it’s also not working.”

“I need to find a balance where those emotions will help (me). Because in the end it’s good to have emotions, but the problem is to put them in the right way,” he added. “Those little moments when I was putting them in the right direction, it was amazing. You feel like you’re just playing amazing and everything is working.”

Read more: "Grateful" Andrey Rublev gives shoutout to Madrid doctors as he departs for Rome

After getting a clean bill of health in Madrid, Rublev arrived in Rome as the No. 4 seed at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. He faces No. 44-ranked American Marcos Giron in the second round.

Launched by the French player and her boyfriend at the start of the year, the Tennis Insider Club podcast has previously featured Gael Monfils, Ons Jabeur and more opening up about topics like from childhood to mental health to life on tour and beyond the court. It’s one of several player-led content initiatives that has grown in popularity over recent months, including Served by former world No. 1 Andy Roddick, Good Trouble with Nick Kyrgios and more.