Medvedev Retires To Lehecka In Madrid Masters QF; Rublev v Fritz

The last day of the quarterfinals turned out to be one of the worst this round has ever seen at the Masters level.

Jannik Sinner withdrew yesterday giving a semifinal pass to Felix Auger-Aliassime. So fans missed out on the top seed taking on the Canadian.

That left the Daniil Medvedev and Jiri Lehecka clash to fill the void, but the match didn’t even conclude. A hobbled Medvedev called it quits due to a bad right groin sending Jiri Lehecka to his first Masters semifinal after the 6-4 score.

“It’s a great feeling, honestly. To play my first clay-court event of the year, Masters 1000, and to be in the semis is just great for me. It’s just something what I wished for for a long time after last year where I didn’t really play well in Masters 1000 events,” Lehecka said to the ATP. “I don’t want to say that I was a bit shy to compete well or to play my best tennis. I gained some important experience, which helped me in the matches like against Rafa and against these kind of matchups.”

Tomorrow, the semifinals are set with Taylor Fritz facing Andrey Rublev and in the evening it’s Auger-Aliassime against Lehecka. Regardless of outcome, a new Madrid Masters champion will be crowned. And either Auger-Aliassime or Lehecka will reach their first Masters final.