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Rublev Disgusted By Boring Media Questions At AO
3 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios
Andrey Rublev won his first match at AO 2026 and then refused to hold back his disgust for on court interviewer and ex ATP champion Wally Masur’s boring, cliche questions.
Watch the awkward interview clash here
Masur’s first question was about Marat Safin’s input to his game, and Rublev was not interested in the topic and grudgingly said, “I dont know, chill, relaxation.” Masur didn’t take the cue and surmised off court is as important as on court contributions. Rublev, growing more annoyed and bored, replied, “Everywhere is important.”
The interview was dead at this point, a total failure. But Masur did not give up and dug up another cliche question about next opponent Jaime Faria. Again, Rublev resisted engaging with Masur, and said he didn’t see the draw and he does not know this opponent.
Masur sensed the disaster he created and then tried one last gasp question but it was another embarrassment, about the court conditions, one of the worst cliche topics in tennis. No player enjoys talking about court conditions, it’s the same question every week, week after week, players just deal with it and play. Rublev tried to make light of it, “it’s part of the game, you’ve been watching tennis too many years,” Rublev said with a laugh.
Masur conceded his failure and wished Rublev to go work on his game, while he promised to work on his interview techniques.
It was one of the most ridiculously awful interviews in sports history and Masur gets full blame. Players are sick of the same boring cliche questions every week and the format is agony for them to waste time and energy on after a hard fought match, the last thing any player wants to do is answer stupid worthless questions nobody cares about.
The post match interview needs to be abolished or fresh new innovator interviewers need to be hired. Hopefully tournament organizes will have seen Rublev vs Masur debacle and take appropriate actions. These interviews are awful and they make the sport and tennis media look bad. Enough is enough.
Andrey Rublev · AO · Wally Masur
3 comments
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Steve · January 20, 2026 at 9:14 am
Pretty bad but the first question in the full interview was legit. It was about Arnaldi who he was 2-2 against heading into this match.
Scoop Malinowski · January 20, 2026 at 9:40 am
True Steve and it is harder than anyone realizes to interview a player after a tough match in front of millions. The current formula needs to be revamped. There is nothing more boring than a player being asked about court conditions and the next opponent. These questions must be banned )
Sam · January 24, 2026 at 4:17 am
Those questions are bad, but even worse are the political ones that are getting asked lately, which Fritz and Anisimova apparently had the sense to shut down—unlike Madison Keys, who decided to take some swipes at the current administration. 😛