In just one tournament, Andrey Rublev went from one of the biggest slumps of his career to one of the two biggest titles of his career.
Rublev captured his second Masters 1000 title (previously Monte-Carlo in 2023) by beating Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the Mutua Madrid Open final on Sunday evening. The 26-year-old triumphed after two hours and 47 minutes of play.
Auger-Aliassime had benefited from two retirements and a walkover en route to his first Masters championship match, and for a while it looked like he was improbably facing yet another hobbled opponent. Rublev came out of the gates in noticeably sluggish fashion, dropping the opening game at love on his own serve before getting broken again at 1-3. The Russian recovered one of the breaks but could not get back on level terms in the first set.
However, Rublev regained the form that had been on display in his previous five Madrid matches–doing so in time to avoid what would have been a fourth defeat in a Masters 1000 final. He seized a crucial break at 6-5 in the second set and in the end it was Auger-Aliassime who dealt with physical problems. The 35th-ranked Canadian started struggling with hamstring camps midway through the third. Auger-Alaissime did well to stay on serve until 5-6, when he donated two double-faults–including one on championship point.
To say that it is an unexpected title for Rublev would be a gross understatement. The world No. 8 had, in fact, been less than 100 percent physically throughout the fortnight. Moreover, he had gone into Madrid with a rough four-match losing streak.
“I have no words,” Rublev said. “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 would say this is the most proud title of my career. I was almost dead every day. I was not sleeping at night. The last three (or) four days I didn’t sleep.”
Finally, Rublev can sleep well knowing that he has another Masters 1000 trophy in tow on his way to the Rome Masters and French Open later this month. He will also climb to No. 6 in the world and No. 5 in the 2024 race, while Auger-Aliassime will surge to No. 20 and No. 16 in those respective departments.
