Andrey Rublev Signs with Head and Endorses the HEAD Gravity Pro 2021
Andrey Rublev has a new racket, but it's not quite that simple...
Andrey Rublev is making waves on the ATP tour this year as he carries his incredibly consistent form over from 2020. He’s already won 20 matches in 2021 and captured his 8th career title in Rotterdam (his 3rd straight ATP 500 Title). He’s 8 in the world and 3rd in the race to Turin, he’s a man on a mission and who knows what heights he could reach as his career progresses.
So, Head will be very excited at the prospect of sponsoring a player with such potential. Yesterday Head Tennis announced on twitter that Andrey Rublev will now be endorsing the HEAD Graphene 360+ Gravity Pro. This is a big deal for a racket that now has 2 players in the men’s top 10 endorsing it.
But why would a player in the form of his life switch rackets you ask? Well, they wouldn’t. And Rublev hasn’t. Let me explain. Rublev previously used the Wilson Six-One 95 on the tour but began to experiment with different frames in late 2019. At the 2019 US Open he started using a blacked-out racket with no branding, which we can now assume was the newly released Gravity Pro. Now that his contract with Wilson has ended, he can officially endorse the racket that has taken his game to new heights.
Rublev’s offensive playing style is incredibly eye catching and dramatic. He is an aggressive baseliner with a huge forehand which he uses to blast through his opponents. His forehand is extremely consistent which allows him to inject massive pace whilst generating very few unforced errors. He builds rallies by incrementally increasing the pace of his forehand before crushing a winner past his opponent.
One of his forehand winners was clocked at 102 MPH last week at the Miami Open. The Head Gravity Pro has sweet zone technology which gives the racket a massive sweet spot, thus allowing Rublev more room for error when he strikes his shots with full force.
This announcement comes just before the start of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, the first major clay court tournament of the year. Rublev comes into this tournament having just reached the semi’s in Miami and he’ll be hungry to take the next step in his career by winning a Masters 1000. He opens up his Monte Carlo campaign against either Salvatore Caruso (Qualifier) or Lucas Catarina (Wild Card) and is projected to face Rafael Nadal in the Quarter Finals.
Rublev’s game translates very well onto the red dirt and he enjoyed his best ever clay court season last year, winning the Hamburg 500 event and reaching the quarter finals of Roland Garros. So, you can expect some more big clay court results from Rublev this year but this time he’ll have the lovely multi coloured Gravity Pro paint job on his racket.
With endorsements coming from Zverev (ATP world number 6) and Ash Barty (WTA world number 1) the Head Gravity line was already a high profile frame. It’s worth noting that Ash Barty uses the Head Gravity MP which is a slightly more manoeuvrable frame at 295g unstrung. Now with the addition of Rublev to the endorsement list, the Head Gravity should be a racket on everyone’s radar this year.
Written by Aron Dochard
