Rublev snaps losing streak in Madrid

Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour

Andrey Rublev snapped a four-match losing streak on Friday at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he beat Argentine Facundo Bagnis 6-1, 6-4 to reach the third round in Madrid for the fourth consecutive year.

The No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings struck 24 winners and committed 10 unforced errors according to Infosys ATP Stats, advancing after one hour and 30 minutes to improve to 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“It feels really great after a while to start with a win and I’m happy with my performance,” said Rublev. “I think I played a good match, for the first round especially being in completely different conditions compared to other tournaments, and I played a good level.”

Rublev had a strong start to the season, winning the title on hard courts in Hong Kong in January. However, he has struggled to find his best level in recent weeks, with his previous win coming in Indian Wells at the start of March.

The 26-year-old will hope his victory against Bagnis can kickstart his season again. The seventh seed will meet Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round after the home favourite beat #NextGenATP Chinese star Shang Juncheng 7-5, 6-3.

“This week I started to feel that I’m more relaxed,” said Rublev. “I was practising well and the mood was different since I arrived here. That’s why I had the feeling I should win one match at least.”

In other early action, Tommy Paul survived a scare against Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein to advance 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4. The American is competing in his first clay-court event of the season after missing Monte-Carlo due to injury. Paul will next play Francisco Cerundolo after the Argentine downed Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 7-6(5).

Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild, who beat Daniil Medvedev last year at Roland Garros, upset Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-4. Seyboth Wild will take on World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the third round.