For Rublev, who was born in 1997 and just turned 24 this year, the 2021 season is undoubtedly a breakthrough year.
This season, he won the ATP Rotterdam championship and finished 5th in the world at the end of the year.
It is worth mentioning that Rublev is the 5th Russian men's player to enter the top 5 of the year-end world rankings. Previously, Kafernikov, Safin, Davydenko and Medvedev had all been in the top 5 at the end of the year many times.
Rublev entered the top 5 for the first time after the US Open on September 13 this year.
He has achieved great results in this year's Grand Slam tournaments, most notably at the Australian Open, reaching the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam three times in a row.
In contrast, his biggest breakthrough was at the Masters.
Before this year, Rublev had never reached the quarter-finals of the Masters. But this year, he reached at least the final four in Miami, Monte Carlo and Cincinnati, losing to Hulkach, Tsitsipas and Zverev respectively, finishing twice in the Masters.
Despite missing out on the title, the Russians have beaten top players like Nadal and Medvedev during the Masters.
The season is over, with Medvedev in 2nd place and Rublev in 5th place. This is after Kafernikov and Safin in 2000, when two Russians simultaneously ranked in the top 5 of the ATP rankings.
In addition, Rublev helped Russia win the ATP Cup and Davis Cup, won the Olympic gold medal in the mixed doubles with Pavlyutchenkova, and ended the year with a record of 53 wins and 23 losses, ranking sixth in the number of wins, behind Medvedev (63 games), Zverev (59 games), Rudd (57 games), Tsitsipas and Djokovic (55 games each).
It was also his first 50+ wins in a single season.
As the 2022 season approaches, Rublev will choose to start his new season at the Abu Dhabi Exhibition, his third time in the event, reaching the quarter-finals in 2017 and 2019.
According to the latest official news, the Abu Dhabi exhibition match confirmed that Rudd retired due to injury, Thiem said that he was not ready to return to the competition, Fritz and Evans will replace the retired players to participate in the game. (Source: Tennis House Author: Wu Li Fun)