Andrey Rublev won his second ATP Masters 1000 trophy after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime in the 2024 Madrid Open final.
This match ultimately ended the way many assumed it would, but getting there took a lot out of the Russian. Many assumed that not playing a lot at the event would impact the Canadian but it really didn’t.
That and Rublev’s flashy wins made him seem like the overwhelming favorite because he is the better-ranked player right now, and he did win, but it came after a long battle.
Auger-Aliassime had struggled for months before this event but found something in the Spanish capital, and he rode that almost to the finish line. It was a very similar outing to what we’ve seen before from him.
He didn’t wait for Rublev to attack; he went for it himself, and it was actually amazing tactically because Rublev didn’t have the best day serving. What pushed him past Carkis Alcaraz a few days ago was lacking in this match, and the Canadian used that to his advantage early on.
Auger-Aliassime put his opponent under a lot of pressure in that opening set, breaking him twice. In the end, he got broken back once, and one break was enough to win the opening set 6-4.
Auger-Aliassime totaled 14 winners in that opening set compared to Rublev’s five. That’s what decided the opening set. In the second set, Rublev stabilized his tennis a little bit, and it made a lot of difference.
He kept his opponent from any challenges and then got chances at the perfect time. It was 6-5 for him, and he took those set points to send the match into a decider.
He was the better player for much of that third set, though he kept wasting chance after chance. Towards the end of the match, Auger-Aliassime experienced some leg issues that impacted his movement, and Rublev took advantage. He moved him around, which worked out, as Rublev won the match 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to win the second ATP Masters 1000 trophy of his career.
