Andrey Rublev after losing Cincinnati final: "Matches like this are more mental & not about the game, the game is there"

Andrey Rublev was handed a drubbing at the hands of a red-hot Alexander Zverev in the Western & Southern Open final on Sunday. Rublev, playing in his second Masters 1000 final, wasn't able to make any inroads into his opponent's service games and eventually succumbed to a tame 2-6, 3-6 loss.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, the Russian expressed gratitude for the week that he had despite coming up short at the last hurdle. He also mentioned that Cincinnati had "great memories" for him; Rublev famously beat Roger Federer in the third round of the tournament two years ago.

"Of course I can be only grateful for the week that I had," Rublev said. "One more final, my second in career. Yeah, I can be only grateful, especially here in a special place for me with great memories."

Andrey Rublev went on to speak about his improved mental game, insisting that he did a much better job of handling the pressure on Sunday than in some of his previous matches. Rublev feels there is still room for improvement, and that he is in the "learning process" of finding the right inner balance.

"Normally in these moments, you start to panic, you start to stress, you start to rush. I can see that I'm doing this better," Rublev said. "I was comparing some other matches in the past when was happening the same way, I was double panic, double more panic, double more stress than even today. I'm, like, in a learning process to find out what exactly you need to do, what exactly need to say to yourself."

Rublev later claimed the biggest problem is not with his game, since he is able to stay with players like Zverev during practice sessions. The Russian believes that the 'key' to winning matches like the Cincinnati final is all mental, and that you have to find the right approach to them.

"We play on practices, and it's always, we have tough sets," Rublev said. "You can see that we play similar level. And then when you go in match and you're losing like today 2 and 3, it's more mental. It's not about the game."

"It's all about the mental (side)," he continued. "You need to find the key how to behave, you know, inside of yourself in these kind of matches. Because the game is there, so it's not about the game."

The 23-year-old also pointed out that losing serve early in both sets of the final put him under a lot of pressure, especially since the big-serving Zverev was playing "unbelievable".

"Of course the final didn't, well, didn't go my way, but this is sport," Rublev said. "There is only one winner. Sascha was playing unbelievable today. Nothing to say."

"Both sets, when you start straight with a break down, especially against Sascha who is serving that well and that hard, it's already super tough," the Russian added. "That was the key. You cannot start like this."

"I was missing this confidence a bit after the summer swing" - Andrey Rublev

Rublev had plenty of positives to take away from his time in Cincinnati.

Andrey Rublev highlighted his match wins over Daniil Medvedev and Gael Monfils as the biggest takeaways from his Cincinnati campaign. He asserted that such wins have brought back the confidence he was missing after a poor summer swing.

"This is what I was missing, this confidence a bit after the summer swing especially that a few losses at Roland Garros, first round, take a bit out my confidence," Rublev said. "In the end, now, I'm back on winning matches. I win some great matches here, I beat great players that I never beat before, like Gael or Daniil."

Rublev's immediate next target is to prepare well for the year's final Grand Slam, the US Open, which is scheduled to be played from 30 August to 12 September.

"So, I'm on I think on a great way, so let's see," he said. "I'm gonna try now prepare for US Open as best as I can, and we'll see what's gonna happen."