Rublev races past Fritz to Madrid final

Can Andrey Rublev’s Mutua Madrid Open resurgence bring him his second ATP Masters 1000 crown?

The seventh seed on Friday produced a commanding semi-final display to down Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 and reach his fifth Masters 1000 championship match. The powerful combination of Rublev’s serve and forehand proved too much for the World No. 13 Fritz, and he wrapped up an impressive victory after just 73 minutes.

The win continued a remarkable return to form for Rublev, who arrived in Madrid off the back of four straight tour-level defeats. He will take on Jiri Lehecka or Felix Auger-Aliassime in Sunday’s final as he looks to lift his second ATP Tour crown of the year.

“Mentally I was feeling much better and I was able to perform,” said Rublev, when asked what had changed upon arriving in Madrid. “Putting emotions in the right direction. For sure it has helped me to reach the final. Without this, I would not be in the final.”

25th ATP Tour final 🤟
Fifth in ATP Masters 1000s 👏@AndreyRublev97 reaches the silverware showdown with a 6-4, 6-3 masterclass@MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/XSEOTcG2nf

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 3, 2024

The eventual manner of Rublev’s semi-final victory was in stark contrast to how it began. Fritz broke the No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings in the opening game, converting his first break point for the perfect start inside Manolo Santana Stadium. The American was unable to capitalise, however, as Rublev immediately reclaimed the break by targeting his opponent’s second serves.

“I started really tight. I missed a couple of returns, a couple of easy shots, but it is part of sport and part of tennis,” said Rublev. “When he broke me, I thought, ‘OK, it is only the beginning, we have a long set and we will see. Maybe he will also not start well on his serve’.

“In the end, I think in the first three points he didn’t hit a first serve, so I was able to win and it was 0/30. On one break point I played well, and somehow it was 1-1. Then the match was equal until the end of the set.”

After sealing the opening set by breaking to love in the 10th game, Rublev came under pressure again on serve in the opening game of the second. This time he saved both break points he faced to hold for 1-0, however, and went onto break Fritz decisively himself in the sixth game before completing his win.

Rublev is now 10-3 in Madrid, where he had not been past the quarter-finals until this year. The relatively fast clay conditions appear to suit his powerful game, something he demonstrated again against Fritz. Rublev fired 20 winners and won 83 per cent (38/46) of points behind first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

With his win, Rublev improved to 4-5 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Fritz. Despite semi-final defeat, the American will take confidence from reaching a Masters 1000 semi-final on clay for the second consecutive year after his 2023 Monte-Carlo run, which was also ended by Rublev.