Andrey Rublev will continue to his development at the 4Slam Academy in Barcelona. Rublev is coming off his first ever Challenger title at the Open BNP Paribas. The Russian came through qualifying and came from a set behind to defeat Paul Henri-Mathieu in the final.
The 4Slam Academy is run by Galo Blanco, Jairo Velasco Jr., and Fernando Vicente. The academy is located in Barcelona and will work with good friend and doubles partner Karen Khachanov.
Blanco Speaks
Galo Blanco spoke with Spanish site Punto de Break about Rublev and their future together, "I will start working with Andrey in a couple of weeks time, and he will come to train in our Academy. He will be alone in Indian Wells and Miami, no coaches from the Academy will follow him there. In the future, Fernando Vicente will travel with him for 10 or 12 weeks in the season, and in the middle, I will help as much as I can. He is clearly the player with huge potential, and I think we can help him to become even better. Besides that, his close friend Karen Khachanov is already working with us, and they can motivate each other.”
He continued, “With Andrey, we plan to work on both physical and mental aspects of his game. At the moment, he is not at his best in terms of physical preparation, and we will look to improve that. Also, when he reaches a certain level of mental maturity, there is no doubt that he can win big matches. I think he possesses a great tennis package. When you are 18, all you have to do is to try to get better.”