Rublev wants to turn a corner: "I'm working in a different direction".

Andrey Rublev is a sure thing at the top of the world rankings. Buoyed by his extremely powerful and aggressive tennis, particularly on the forehand, he has made a habit of smothering many of his opponents with his raw striking power.

That said, his tennis still has its flaws, and his inconsistency on the return of serve and at the net, as well as his lack of tactical adaptability, have so far prevented him from breaking through his glass ceiling to set his sights higher, particularly in the Grand Slam.

Interviewed on a Hong Kong television channel, the Russian revealed that he had decided this year to undertake some in-depth work in the off-season to improve his game: "I'm working in a slightly different direction now and I'm starting to feel that I'm succeeding. So I just want to keep going like this, play better at net. There have been a lot of matches where I've lost by one or two points, and the difference is that I haven't played well at the net.

That let me down at the most important moment of the match. I'm also starting to improve on things like serving, with a slight change of rhythm. You have to do that a little bit every day. So it's this work and these changes that I'm going to accomplish daily, because it's preseason and we have time to put it all together."