Andrey Rublev shares how playing chess helps him in tennis

Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev who has recently had his breakthrough year on tour has grown from strength to strength. The World No. 8 won five titles on tour last year and is going through a purple patch currently. He won his first ATP title in 2017 and since then his game has only improved with every passing event. He also powered his way through to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and will only get better from here.

Recently the youngster revealed how he finds chess and tennis very similar. He shared how he feels that chess helps him strategize in his overall game. Rublev believes that the way he moves the queen is very similar to his movement on a tennis court while playing those vicious forehands and backhands.

The 23-year-old recently spoke about the similarities between chess and tennis in a recent interaction. He said, “I hope and I think chess can help in tennis, maybe strategy-wise, it can help you have better patience. In my case, I’m playing chess the same way as tennis. I try to take a queen and lead the match like in tennis I try to take the forehand and be the one who is dictating.”

The World No.8 further revealed his attacking mindset and how in chess he likes to only attack with the queen. However, despite the similarities, Rublev admits both the games are worlds apart.

The 23-year-old added, “So in chess, I’m trying to do it the same way. I try to put all the figures in the way to open everything for the queen and to start to prepare my attack only with the queen (laughs). But in the end, it’s nothing to compare, it’s still two different things.”

It has been a good start to 2021 for Rublev as he played a huge role in helping Russia win the ATP Cup. He was decent at the Australian Open where he reached the quarterfinals. But he improved on it by winning the Rotterdam Open. Currently, he is featuring at the ATP Dubai Tennis Championships and according to a lot of experts, the Russian youngster is favourite to win the trophy despite the presence of Dominic Thiem.