Andy Murray will face Andrey Rublev in Indian Wells in what will be the world No. 5’s first match since he was defaulted from the Dubai Championships.
Andy Murray is planning to use Andrey Rublev’s emotions against him when they meet in the second round of Indian Wells. The world No. 5 was defaulted from last week’s Dubai Championships after approaching a linesman and screaming in his face, with a separate Russian-speaking official claiming that he swore. Reflecting on the incident, Murray admitted that his next opponent was “extremely intense” as he shared his plan to try and defeat Rublev in the desert
Murray got off to a strong start in Indian Wells, downing former top-10 star David Goffin 6-3 6-2 on Wednesday. He now faces a tough opponent in fifth seed Rublev and there will be an extra layer of intrigue in their contest, as it marks the 26-year-old’s first match since he was disqualified in Dubai.
Facing Alexander Bublik in the semi-finals, the pair had split the first two sets in tiebreaks and Bublik set 6-5 in the third when Rublev was defaulted. He later won an appeal to have his points and prize money reinstated. Murray will be his first opponent since that dramatic moment, and the Brit believes that he could use Rublev’s frustrations to his advantage if the world No. 5 starts to lose focus.
“That’s always been part of his personality,” Murray told The Times ahead of their showdown. “On the court he’s an extremely intense dude and obviously desperate to win. I’ve seen him play extremely well when he’s very frustrated. Whether it affects how he actually plays in the points or not, I don’t know.”
Although Murray knows that Rublev can thrive under pressure, he is also aware that the 15-time title winner can’t handle his emotions as well as someone like Novak Djokovic. He added: “Everyone is very different with that.
Some people can get extremely frustrated and it’s not a problem during the next point. I’d say Novak is someone who is a good example of that. But if Rublev is frustrated and I feel like he’s losing focus, I will try to use it to my advantage.”
After witnessing Rublev’s outburst in Dubai, Murray believes that players need to re-evaluate the way they treat officials after too many instances where lines have been crossed. The three-time Grand Slam champion said: “All of us players – and I think I’ve been guilty of it myself – we need to be a little bit careful of the way that we speak to and treat officials.
