“Don’t lie to yourself!” Andrey Rublev drops words of wisdom ahead of Beijing return

Famously humble and down to earth, Andrey Rublev is a fan favorite among tennis fans on social media because he knows how to just “be himself”—whether that means cracking jokes with fellow players, standing up for what he believes in, or simply acting goofy in official videos.

While his off-court demeanor has captured fans in droves, his on-court persona is completely different: The Russian player is loud, emotional and prone to go on a self-deprecating tirade here and there. But which one is the ‘real’ Andrey?

When asked in an interview to discuss how he has learned to stay true to himself, the world No. 6’s simple yet thoughtful response gave fans even more reason to appreciate him:

“Tough question, to be honest. The best (way) I found is to just don’t lie to yourself and to accept the way you are,” Rublev said. “It’s better to be yourself, and then (if) someone doesn’t like you or if they like you, it’s because of who you are, then trying to be someone else or trying to hide some things, and then someone likes you but not because of who you are.

“In the end, later or sooner, all of this is going to break anyway. So that’s the only advice—at least for me, I found this is the best way.”

With his philosophy of embracing the good and the bad, Rublev arrived in China eager to find his consistency once again on the Asian Swing after a summer full of up-and-down results.

Rublev went 0-2 in North American hard-court events leading up to the US Open, falling in the opening round at both Toronto and Cincinnati. He segued that into a quarterfinal run at the US Open, falling to eventual runner-up Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.

He then took part in popular team competition Laver Cup, where he went 0-3 across both singles and doubles—including a straight sets loss to Taylor Fritz on opening day. Rublev was unable to claim any points in Team Europe’s 2-13 rout, falling to Team World for the second year in a row.

Now it’s onto the Asian Swing, where Rublev is the No. 5 seed at the China Open, an ATP 500-level event also headlined by the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Medvedev, Holger Rune and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Rublev will take on Cameron Norrie in the opening round in singles, but he’s already back to his winning ways in Beijing doubles. Partnering with Karen Khachanov, the Madrid Open champions took down local wildcards Cui Jie and Wang Aoran 6-4, 7-5 to move into the quarterfinals.