Tennis star Andrey Rublev is playing at the Swiss Indoors in Basel this week. The world number seven recently had to undergo emergency surgery. "I almost lost a testicle," Rublev tells "20 Minuten".
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- Andrey Rublev plays at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
- The tennis star had to undergo emergency surgery at the beginning of September because his blood wasn't flowing properly.
- "I almost lost a testicle," says Rublev, who fortunately came through the operation well.
At the beginning of September, Rublev suddenly felt pain in his abdomen after a fitness training session in Barcelona. At first he hoped that the pain would go away. But when he tried to train on the tennis court, he was unable to move properly. His team advises him to seek medical advice.
At the hospital in Barcelona, he is immediately sent to the emergency room. The blood was not flowing properly, he was told. "They told me that I only had five or six hours for the operation. Otherwise the testicle is completely dead," reveals Rublev.
Rublev had to authorize possible amputation
The Russian survived the medical procedure without complications. "The last thing I did before the operation was to sign the document in which I agreed to the amputation of my testicle," says the 27-year-old.
Rublev can already laugh about the operation again. "On the one hand it's funny, but on the other hand it's kind of not," he says. The medical incident does not seem to have thrown him off course in his training schedule. He was able to return to the tennis court a short time later.
After a mixed season, he now wants to celebrate success again in Basel. But he has no great expectations. "I know what tennis is like. Sometimes things don't go as expected," he says before his first round match against Nuno Borges.