Andrey Rublev had a great season this year. Not only did the Russian tennis star debut into the Top 5, but also won the ATP and Davis Cup. Moreover, 2021 saw Rublev win an Olympic mixed doubles Gold medal as well, alongside Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Furthermore, the 24-year-old also reached his first Masters final this year, in Monte Carlo. However, he lost to Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-3 in straight sets.

Nevertheless, as the World No. 5 vying for more accolades and higher rankings, things seemed on track for Rublev. And yet, the problems surrounding much of the tennis community currently have also engulfed him.

Andrey Rublev shares unfortunate news ahead of ATP Cup and Australian Open

The past few weeks have seen huge tennis stars fall ill to the coronavirus. In fact, just this week, several top players have announced for testing positive. Rafael Nadal, fresh off his Mubadala WTC comeback tour, announced that he tested positive for the virus.

Canadian World No. 14 Denis Shapovalov, after reaching Australia, announced that he had caught the illness too. Moreover, Olympic Gold medalist Belinda Bencic, along with World No. 10 Ons Jabeur, tested positive as well.

Now, it is yet another big star, World No. 5 Andrey Rublev, who has announced that he is covid-positive in Barcelona, Spain. Rublev shared the news via Twitter.

“I have minimal symptoms. I am in isolation and following all the protocols under the supervision of doctors,” Rublev shared.

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He shares that he was looking forward to playing both the ATP Cup and the Australian Open. Expressing his concern about the events surrounding the upcoming major vis-a-vis the coronavirus, Rublev promised a quick return to tennis.

ALSO READ: ‘I Don’t Believe it’: Andrey Rublev Calls Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray’s Comments an ‘Illusion’

In fact, Rublev shared that he had even been double-vaccinated. Yet, the Russian 24-year-old ended up catching the virus.

Australian summer of tennis in jeopardy?

Apart from players who are rapidly and suddenly catching the coronavirus, the Australian Open has its own problems as well. The past few weeks have seen covid cases in Australia rise up exponentially.

Moreover, the uncertainty in the past months about the mandates by Tennis Australia over unvaccinated players has also caused many players to simply avoid going there at all. In fact, the Kooyong Classic tournament, a warmup event to the Australian Open, was canceled for 2022, owing to these reasons.

Popular stars like Jennifer Brady and Karolina Pliskova have already pulled out of the major due to injuries. Furthermore, Bianca Andreescu and Serena Williams too had announced earlier that they would remain absent from the first Grand Slam of the year.

What do you think about the rising number of cases and the increasing absentee list?

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