Russian Tennis Player Andrey Rublev Writes Anti-War Message On Camera Lens After Win

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Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev beat fellow countryman Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Finals in Italy on Monday. After the match, Rublev walked over to a camera and wrote an anti-war message on its lens calling for peace between his home country and Ukraine.

Rublev, the No. 5 player in the world, fell to the ground after winning match point to earn what was his 50th win of the year. After standing up and shaking hands with Medvedev, the No. 7 player in the world, he walked over to the camera.

Rublev wrote "peace peace peace all we need" across the camera lens.

This was not the first time Rublev has elected to send a message to Russia in the form of a silent protest.

Earlier this year, after advancing to a final in Dubai, Rublev wrote "no war please" on a camera lens. Rublev sharing his "no war please" message was a powerful and courageous moment as it came just a day after his country invaded Ukraine.

“In these moments you realize that my match is not important. It’s not about my match, how it affects me. What’s happening is much more terrible," Rublev said following his match win in February.

“You realize how important is to have peace in the world and to respect each other no matter what, to be united. It’s about that we should take care of our earth and of each other. This is the most important thing.”

Russian and Belarusian players were banned from competing in Wimbledon earlier this year and players from the two countries have played without flags next to their names since the war in Ukraine began.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.