Bleeding fingers, insane comebacks, medical timeout drama- the quarterfinal match between Andrey Rublev and Hugo Gaston at the Hangzhou Open had it all. The Russian won the match after almost a three-hour slog, but not before he had to shed blood and tears, quite literally.
The incident happened during the eleventh game of the second set, with Gaston serving at 5-5. At one point, Rublev was seen going to his towel box, but his frustrations had boiled over by then, and he proceeded to punch the signs on the wall. Unsurprisingly, Rublev scraped his finger in doing so, started bleeding in the middle of the court, and needed prompt medical attention from the physios.
Rublev’s frustrations were understandable given how the match had unfolded. 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, which seemed to be all but over when Rublev took a 6-1 lead. In an insane comeback, Gaston won the next five points to square it up at 6-6, which saw Rublev on the verge of tearing his shirt apart in frustration, while changing ends.
The momentum was with the Frenchman, as Gaston won the next two points to win the first set. Rublev was quick to respond in the second set as he broke serve twice to get a 4-0 lead. 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, just like the first set, 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.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time Rublev has injured himself during a match. During his match against Carlos Alcaraz 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.
Hitting himself with the racket wasn’t a tactical choice for Rublev, who opened up about the mental health struggles he had been facing during his career in the last few years. Players often express their frustrations on the court, and none more so than Rublev’s compatriot, Daniil Medvedev, who is infamous for his racket smashes, kicking at signs and cameras, and also having massive rows with chair umpires.
As for Rublev’s match against Gaston in Hangzhou, the Russian receiving medical treatment was not the last of the drama.
There Was Medical Timeout Drama at the Match Between Andrey Rublev and Hugo Gaston in Hangzhou
With the match on a knife-edge, the second-set tiebreak between Rublev and Gaston had more drama. With the score at 2-2, both players were involved in a lung-busting rally of 38 shots, which the Russian won to get a key mini-break. However, this is when Gaston opted to stop play and called for a medical timeout for a blister on his foot, even holding it up for the camera to show the injury.
In a slightly comical turn of events, while Gaston was receiving his treatment, Rublev came along to get some more plasters from the physio for his fingers. The Frenchman was not impressed by the physio catering to both players during his timeout, and he 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.
However, once play resumed, the match had shifted in Rublev’s favor, who 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. The second seed is all set to face another Frenchman in the semifinal, as he will go up against Kyrian Jacquet.