During a mixed doubles semifinal match at the U.S. Open on Wednesday, Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev waved off an on-court interview with ESPN’s Sam Querrey. The abrupt end to the interview occurred shortly after his mixed doubles partner, Mirra Andreeva, made candid remarks about him in a previous interview.
Querrey approached Rublev and his partner, Andreeva, for a mid-match interview, but Rublev appeared to refuse participation, gesturing for the interviewer to leave. "No questions? Sorry, sorry. Good luck," Querrey responded before moving on.
Rublev and Andreeva were ultimately defeated in the mixed doubles semifinal by the Czech duo Jakub Mensik and Karolina Muchova with a score of 4-5, 5-3, 9-11. Following the match, Rublev reportedly approached Querrey and apologized for his behavior during the interview.
The incident followed an earlier interview on Tuesday where the 19-year-old Andreeva revealed she had a "little crush" on her 28-year-old partner. "I’ve never said anything, I’ve never told him anything as well, but I used to have a little crush on him as well," Andreeva stated. She cited his hair and his perceived kindness as reasons for her admiration.
When asked about Andreeva's comments in a subsequent interview, Rublev deflected, characterizing it as a "typical moment when the kids, they don’t have taste yet, they need to try some stupid things before they start to have it?" He added, "I was in the part of stupid thing, in the transition moment."
Rublev, ranked No. 24 in men's singles, is scheduled to compete in the singles main draw. His first-round opponent is Marin Cilic of Croatia.