When Andrey Rublev dropped out of the top ten rankings in 2025, he sat down and looked at his game. He had always been criticized for never having a plan B and for relying too heavily on a monolithic, forehand-based style, and he agreed. Deciding to evolve, he hired coach Marat Safin. But little did he know what his new coach would unlock.

They say old habits don’t die easily. For Safin, though, Rublev’s wall was not in his arms, but in his mind. The Russian is well-known for letting his on-court frustrations out on himself – remember his 2023 ATP Finals against Carlos Alcaraz? But it wasn’t because of the game itself. “I couldn’t find meaning in life in general,” as he confessed. Over time, while he has reinvented himself, his quarterfinal match against Hugo Gaston at the Hangzhou Open proved that old habits indeed don’t die easily.

The incident happened during the eleventh game of the second set, with Gaston serving at 5-5. Rublev was so frustrated that he started yelling at himself while walking towards his towel box. When he reached the sidelines, after wiping off his sweat, he bent down and he punched the advertisement perimeter board on the wall. Unsurprisingly, Rublev scraped his hand while doing so.

Not long after, he started bleeding in the middle of the court and needed prompt medical attention from the physios. His knuckles were seen bleeding as he waited during his timeout. But if you look at it, his frustrations were understandable.

Rublev’s frustrations, this time, were from the match itself

When the Russian last opened up about his mental health, he wanted to make it clear that any behavior at the time was caused by his life in general and not tennis. Then, his last such incident was against Sinner at the 2023 ATP Finals.

The Russian hit his racket multiple times against his knee out of frustration, leaving blood on the court. Back then, Rublev had justified his actions by saying that he did not want to damage his rackets by hitting them on the court, and rather chose to bear the brunt of his frustrations himself. But things looked different against Gaston.

The first set was closely contested, with both players holding serve throughout all 12 games and neither facing a single break point. However, the drama started in the tiebreak.

After his 6-1 lead, it seemed that the set would go to Rublev. Instead, in an insane comeback, Gaston won the next five points to square it up at 6-6. At that time as well, Rublev tried to tear his shirt while changing ends, but couldn’t. He also frustratingly kicked chairs. With momentum on the Frenchman’s side, Gaston won the next two points to win the first set. Things only mirrored in the next set.

Even though Gaston got a break back, Rublev had secured a 5-2 lead and was on the verge of clinching the second set. However, Gaston came back in the match, breaking serve twice to level the set at 5-5, while saving two set points. All the pent-up frustration built up for Rublev led him to have a go at the signs on the side of the court.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see a player express his frustration on the court. Just take Rublev’s compatriot, Daniil Medvedev, for instance. He is infamous for his racket smashes, kicking at signs and cameras, and also having massive rows with chair umpires. But interestingly, the drama didn’t end here in Hangzhou.

Hugo Gaston also caused drama in Hangzhou

With the match on a knife’s edge at 2-2, the second-set tiebreak between Rublev and Gaston had more drama. At that point, both players were involved in a lung-busting rally of 38 shots, which the Russian won to get a key mini-break. Just then, Gaston called for a medical timeout for a blister on his foot. But while he was holding his foot up for the camera to show the injury, he realized something was wrong: Where was the physio?!.

In a comical turn of events, while Gaston was receiving his treatment, Rublev called upon the doctor to tell him something. Then, the doctor and the Russian came to Gaston’s bench, where an assistant was holding the medical kit. And before looking at the blister on the Frenchman’s foot, the physio got busy providing Rublev with more wraps for his hand. Expectedly, Gaston was not impressed by the physio catering to both players during his timeout. But he took the issue further and made his frustration known to the umpire

“It’s my medical, but he’s not taking care of me,” Gaston was heard saying to the umpire.

He was also gesturing towards himself and then Rublev’s bench, where the physio was present. Obviously, nothing came of it, except that the momentum shifted back in Rublev’s favor.

Once the play resumed, Rublev closed the second-set tiebreak at 7-4. The Russian picked up his form in the third set and raced to a 5-0 lead. This time around, there was no miraculous comeback from Gaston, and even though the French player saved three match points, Rublev closed out the set 6-1 and reached the semifinals, where he will face another Frenchman, Kyrian Jacquet.