Andrey Rublev is the 2024 Mutua Madrid Open champion after coming from a set down to defeat Felix-Auger Aliassime 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in 2 hours and 48 minutes.
The win gives Rublev his second Masters 1000 title, and he’s one of only five active players to have won multiple Masters 1000 titles on clay, with Nadal, Djokovic, Zverev, and Murray also in the club.
In what was a final between two unlikely candidates at the start of the tournament, Rublev, who entered Madrid on a four-match losing streak, ran away the deserved winner after overcoming a shaky start.
Interestingly, he stated after the match that he’d been struck with a fever all week, had barely slept, and was super grateful to the medical staff for getting him in a position to play.
Despite that, he dug deep and was the more tenacious player, creating more chances throughout three sets to get the job done.
Madrid Open 2024 Day 12 Final Result
| Winner | Loser | Scoreline |
|---|---|---|
| Andrey Rublev (7) | Felix Auger-Aliassime | 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 |
Thoughts on the Final
Heading into the final, I made Rublev the solid favourite, given Auger-Aliassime virtually had a bye to the final. However, Rublev started his first service game with back-to-back double faults and was broken immediately. He looked devoid of energy and even propped himself up with the racket when keeling over after a lengthy-ish rally. It’s safe to say it didn’t look good.
Felix consolidated and was soon up a double break at 4-1. But from there, things started to get closer. Rublev broke back, and after saving a set point at 4-5, he had a break chance to get back on level terms. Auger-Aliassime saved it and took the set 6-4, but Rublev had equalised the playing level.
In the second set, Rublev started to enjoy a lot of success behind his first serve, with Auger-Aliassime struggling to do much on the return,
The Russian won 80% of the points behind it, compared to 62% in the first set, and didn’t face a single break before seizing his chance to break Auger-Aliassime in the set’s final game to level.
The decisive third set saw Rublev continue to dominate with his first serve, securing 93% of the points behind it.
He played aggressively, particularly with his forehand, and maintained composure in prolonged rallies. In contrast, Aliassime, who received multiple visits from the physio for a thigh/hamstring issue, had to rely on clutch serving to maintain parity. He saved two break points at 1-1 and 2-2 before erasing another at 4-4 to frustrate the 7th seed.
However, with Rublev holding quickly, things finally caught up with Felix, and his resistance ended in the twelve-game as he fired down a double fault at 30-40 to hand Rublev the title, extending his lead to 5-1 in their head-to-head matchups.
I have no words. If you knew what I had been through in the past nine days you would not imagine that I would be able to win a title. I’m incredibly happy. That one week changed everything because now it looks like I was not losing the last weeks in the first round! I have to give full credit to the doctors. They were doing some tricky things and I was able to at least be able to play.” Rublev on dealing with illness to land the title in Madrid.
Match Stats
| Felix Auger-Aliassime | Andrey Rublev | |
|---|---|---|
| Aces | 14 | 7 |
| Double Faults | 5 | 5 |
| 1st Serve Percentage | 69% | 68% |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 69% (60/87) | 78% (50/64) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 36% (14/39) | 60% (18/30) |
| Break Points Saved | 73% (8/11) | 50% (2/4) |
| 1st Return Points Won | 23% (15/64) | 31% (27/87) |
| 2nd Return Points Won | 40% (12/30) | 64% (25/39) |
| Break Points Converted | 50% (2/4) | 27% (3/11) |
| Winners | 36 | 25 |
| Unforced Errors | 20 | 15 |
| Net Points Won | 62% (13/21) | 70% (14/20) |
| Max Points In Row | 7 | 6 |
| Service Points Won | 60% (74/123) | 71% (65/91) |
| Return Points Won | 29% (26/91) | 40% (49/123) |
| Total Points Won | 47% (100/214) | 53% (114/214) |
| Max Games In Row | 2 | 3 |
| Service Games Won | 82% (14/17) | 88% (15/17) |
| Return Games Won | 12% (2/17) | 18% (3/17) |
| Total Games Won | 47% (16/34) | 53% (18/34) |
Highlights
What did you guys make of the final? Let me know in the comments.
