'Completely Calm' Rublev ends Alcaraz's Madrid Hat-trick hopes

Andrey Rublev earned the biggest win of his season on Wednesday at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he ended two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz’s quest for a historic third consecutive title at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

The seventh seed opened his shoulders and played with belief throughout the quarter-final clash to oust the No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 after two hours and one minute.

"I think the serve saved me a lot of times today," Rublev said. "I think the key was I was completely calm the whole match. I did not say one word, even if I was losing. That was the key and I was able to serve even better near the end. In the beginning, I was not serving that well but little by little, after set one, I served better and better and finished really well."

"Rublev joins the party!" 🙌@AndreyRublev97 books a semi-final ticket at his 7th of the 9 ATP Masters 1000s@MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/g1mztDut3t

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 1, 2024

Playing under the roof on Manolo Santana Stadium, the 26-year-old hit with fierce force off the forehand wing to overpower Alcaraz at times. Rublev struck 30 winners and frequently stepped inside the baseline to rush the Spaniard, who failed to play at his best following his two-hour, 50-minute win in the fourth round against Jan-Lennard Struff.

With his 19th tour-level victory of the season, Rublev improved to 8-10 against Top 3 opponents. His most recent Top 3 win before Wednesday came at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2022 against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Alcaraz was aiming to become the first player in history to win three consecutive titles in Madrid. The 20-year-old Spaniard started quickly against Rublev but was punished for dropping the ball short against the World No. 8, who consistently found the corners to inflict the first defeat on Alcaraz on Spanish soil since Madrid in 2021.

Rublev arrived at the clay-court event off the back of a four-match losing streak but has looked back to his best. The 15-time tour-level titlist made 74 per cent of first serves in the match, according to Infosys ATP Stats, following up big first deliveries with heavy groundstrokes, for which Alcaraz had no answer in sets two and three.

Having dropped just one set in Madrid, Rublev will meet Taylor Fritz or Francisco Cerundolo in his eighth ATP Masters 1000 semi-final.

"When you start to think of how good everything is, then for six weeks I was not winning at all. So it is better to not think at all," Rublev said on his recent run. "That it is just a moment and it happens to everyone. Everyone has been through these moments and the most important thing is to keep working and keep improving."

Rublev’s only previous triumph at this level came in Monte-Carlo last season. Earlier this year he won an ATP 250 title in Hong Kong and is currently ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

Alcaraz leaves Madrid holding an 18-5 record on the year. His only title triumph this season came in Indian Wells, where he won his fifth ATP Masters 1000 title. The two-time major champion missed clay-court events in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona due to a right arm injury and played with strapping during all four of his matches in Madrid.