Andrey Rublev Exposes Court Quality in Rome and Roland Garros: “It’s the Same”

Andrey Rublev has slammed the Italian Open and Roland Garros for their poor court quality. The World No.14, who is set to compete at the Rome Masters, declared that the conditions of the court have been nothing to write home about, adding that it has been the same condition each year, with nothing changing.

Some players, including Lorenzo Musetti, have already made some scathing complaints about the conditions of the Rome Masters court. One of the major challenges during clay season has been how to protect the court from rain and windy conditions. In Madrid, over a dozen players complained about the conditions, including Alexander Zverev.

With players under pressure while playing on the court, a poor bounce can significantly affect their momentum. Also, in most clay tournaments, just like Roland Garros, the major court is usually the last court to be prepared before the tournament begins. Players competing in qualifying rounds often practice on the outside court.

However, top players prefer practicing on the main court, which is likely not to be in the best condition when they come to do so. However, tournament organizers do not stop them from practicing in the major courts as they are expected to play most of their matches there during the two-week event.

Nonetheless, Novak Djokovic complained heavily about the French Open courts in 2024. He slipped on the red dirt on several occasions, and that led to him sustaining an injury and eventually withdrawing from the event. Speaking to Championat, Rublev criticized the state of the Italian Open courts comparing them to the Roland Garros courts:

These courts (In Rome) have no resemblance at all to those in Paris. I’ve been playing in Paris for years, and there it’s all much more slippery, there isn’t much sand, especially on the outer courts. There, things have also changed. Since the pandemic, they are not the same; it’s as if there’s no longer any clay, as if playing on a terrestrial surface. There’s hardly any sand on the smaller courts, we’ll see how they are this year, but in the last 2-3 years, there was no clay at all.

Flavio Cobolli complained about the Madrid Open court after beating Camila Ugo Carabelli. The Italian star revealed that the surface was very slippery and he approached the ATP supervisor, claiming that it was dangerous for players to play in that condition. The windy conditions were another subject of debate in the final.

Andrey Rublev gives his take on Rome ahead of his opening match

Andrey Rublev has not been at her best this season. The World No. 14’s best tournament over the past two months was the Barcelona Open, where he reached the final before losing the title to Frenchman Arthur Fils. The Russian star arrived in Madrid in good form but failed to win any matches.

Rublev now aims to get back to his best at the Italian Masters, a tournament he has never gone beyond the quarter-finals, something he did five years ago. During the aforementioned interview, he admitted that Rome has been a lovely city and that he arrived at the Italian capital early after his second-round exit in Madrid:

The city is beautiful; I don’t have much to say about this place because I love it. It’s a fantastic city, as a tourist, it’s lovely to stroll around here, the entire history one can find in every corner. One must come here at least once in a lifetime; last year, I lost early and took the opportunity to go on excursions for a couple of days. There are many things to see and do here in Rome; each place has a very special story to tell.

Rublev, who hopes to challenge Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, reached the fourth round of the Italian Open in 2023 and 2024. Last year, he fell to Fabian Marozsan in three sets in the second round. He will open his campaign against Miomir Kecmanović on Friday (May 8) at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

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