"I spent 2.5 days in the hospital... The smell from my mouth, you can't imagine how horrible" - Andrey Rublev on his mysterious Madrid Open illness

Andrey Rublev has opened up on his illness during the Madrid Open last fortnight. The Russian also revealed that he was hospitalized for two and a half days following his triumph at the Caja Magica due to his vulnerable health.

Rublev came into the 2024 Madrid Open in less-than-ideal form, having dropped four of his previous five matches on the ATP tour. However, that didn't deter him from turning in one of his best campaigns to date, outlasting the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime to win his second career Masters title.

Andrey Rublev will be eager to carry his rich vein of form to the Italian Open. During a media interaction at the tournament, the World No. 6 disclosed that he had contracted a bacterial infection in his throat at the beginning of his campaign at the Caja Magica.

The Russian added that his state got so bad towards the end of the Madrid Open that his throat had swelled up to almost double in size. Moreover, the consequent phlegm from the infection was very odorous by his own account.

"I feel now perfect, and I spent two and a half days in the hospital. I had a tonsil abcess. I mean, it was crazy because one day I wake up with my throat double bigger than it should be. So, the hole where you breathe is super small," Andrey Rublev recalled. "The throat is super in pain. It's tough to swallow because it's painful.

"It's tough to breathe because you have less space. And then it started to be all this. Not poison, how do you call this? When you have an infection but like a bad color, so my throat was in an ugly color," he added. "And the smell from my mouth, you cannot imagine how horrible it was. I could not take it, and then after the final, I started feeling worse."

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Andrey Rublev: "Now I'm feeling so good... but nine days, I was struggling a lot"

Andrey Rublev hits a forehand at Madrid Open 2024

Andrey Rublev further disclosed that he had gotten admitted to the hospital after his Madrid Open championship-match win over Felix Auger-Aliassime at the behest of the doctor, who suggested that he required immediate treatment.

"I mean, during older tournaments, I was only feeling worse, worse and worse, and then as soon as I finished the final, early morning went to the hospital," Andrey Rublev said. "When they did a couple of checks, they check my body and when the doctor did one test or something, he's like, 'Okay, it's an emergency.'

"He took me immediately to stay in hospital because it can get completely worse," he added. "Since I stay in hospital, after half a day, I feel already better, next day was already feeling so good, and now I'm feeling so good. But nine days, I was struggling a lot."

Rublev will be looking to go deep at this fortnight's Italian Open. The 26-year-old's best result at the Foro Italico is a last-eight appearance in 2021. Having received a first-round bye, he will take on USA's Marcos Giron, whom he leads 1-0 in their head-to-head meetings on the ATP tour.