Andrey Rublev takes inspiration from Stephen Curry with “responsibility” message on shoe

Andrey Rublev scored his biggest win of the year on Thursday in Doha, fighting his way into the semifinals at the Qatar ExxonMobil after defeating Alex de Minaur to claim his first Top 10 victory in six months.

The two-hour and 42-minute contest wasn’t just a tough physical challenge, it was a major mental test for Rublev, too. The Russian needed eight match points to close out De Minaur, eventually getting the job done in a third-set tiebreak, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8).

Rublev kept his calm throughout the match thanks to a variety of mental techniques—including one trick he learned from Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry.

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Eagle-eyed Rublev fans know that “responsibility” has been the go-to slogan for the 27-year-old in the last few months, showing up as a scrawled message on various parts of his kit, from his hands to his K-Swiss shoes. But he was having trouble getting the word to stick at first, until he took a page out of the basketball player’s book.

“The problem is that I first tried to write it on my wrist so I could see it, but it turns out that not every pen can write there,” Rublev told Russian outlet BB Tennis. “Then, because at school I always wrote cheat sheets on my palm, I realized that I could probably write it on my finger… After two games, it immediately fades away.

“Then I watched a video of Stephen Curry, a basketball player, where he talked about some of the tricks he used to help him focus. One of them was a phrase he wrote on his sneaker to remind himself, to help him trigger the right mood.

“I thought that a sneaker would be a really good option. It won't rub off, it’s easy to write on and it’s always there.”

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Curry’s own Under Armour shoes famously feature the phrase “I can do all things”—a reference to Bible verse Philippians 4:13, which reads, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

"It's a mantra that I live by and something that drives me every single day," Curry told press. "It'll hopefully inspire people to find something that drives them, whether that's a verse or some other motivating force that keeps you hungry and keeps you driven.

“That's mine, and you can pick whatever yours is and let that drive you, too, as you continue with basketball or whatever field you're in in your life."

Rublev, a Golden State Warriors fan according to his ATP Tour profile, has been writing out “Responsibility” since embarking on a mental turnaround after hitting “the worst moment of my life in terms of how I feel about myself” following his first-round exit at Wimbledon. The process has also included trips to the psychologist and conversations with two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin.

It all seems to be paying off for Rublev, who spent the changeovers in Doha with his eyes closed and breathing deep in order to regulate his emotions. At one point, he was seen laughing after having lost 5-2 lead and let match points slip by, before quickly locking in and hitting the mental reset button—a sequence that launched more than a few memes.

Rublev’s verdict: “It’s all in the head. If you want it to work, it will work. If you don’t want it, you could write it on your forehead and it still won’t help.”

The 2020 Doha champion eventually closed out the victory, improving to 4-4 against De Minaur and booking a spot in the semifinals. He will face Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday, after Daniil Medvedev withdrew from their quarterfinal match due to illness.