Andrey Rublev explains why he gave rowdy fans the middle finger

World No 8 says that he usually finds it funny when fans mistake him for another player.

It seems that hair length has something to do with the misidentifications with Rublev reporting being mistaken for Denis Shapovalov, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner.

A run-in with Italian fans went south when they didn't believe that Rublev wasn't Sinner.

"I get mistaken for a lot of players - Shapovalov, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Sinner, so it's fun, yeah," Rublev told TV Start.

"Just this year, in Paris, during Roland Garros, some Italians started saying 'Sinner, Sinner'. I tell them, 'I'm not Sinner' They continue: 'Yes, Sinner, Sinner', I go 'Honestly, I'm not Sinner, I'm telling you.' They go 'No, you're lying to us. Can we take a photo with you?" I tell them: "I'm not Sinner, stop it, get away from me'. They got annoyed, so I showed them the middle finger. Seems like Sinner disappointed them," added Andrey Rublev.

Rublev has been in the UAE for exhibition events as he cut short any holiday time to get ready for a big 2023 season. He feels that a long off-season would not benefit him this term.

"This week is actually the only one and the last one where I can really put some work into practice, without holding back, and after that I'm flying to Australia," said Andrey Rublev.

"If we take Turin, I lost the semifinal on Saturday, and already next Saturday I had my first practice, so I think five days or so. Think you need a balance, like everywhere. It's sh**ty when you're resting for a long time," he added.

"But there are many players who like to take long vacation, several weeks, even during the season if there's a week off. I think you need a balance.

"But it's very bad when you're not resting at all, because you can exhaust yourself, yes, and get injured as well, and psychologically lose your mind as well. So you need a balance. In my case, well, I didn't really get to rest after the season, but thank God I had some time off during the season - there were a couple of times where I took a week off, even without tennis, so in some way that compensated the fact that I had almost no rest after the season."