Rublev To Face Auger-Aliassime In Madrid Masters Final Sunday

Semifinal day wasn’t as bad as the last day of quarterfinals yesterday at the Madrid Masters, but that’s not saying a lot.

Thursday saw one men’s set played all day so the bar was low. Friday cleared it, but not by much as 2.5 sets were played.

Andrey Rublev rolled past Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 to reach his fifth career Masters 1000 final. Rublev dropped just eight points on first serve and after getting broken via an opening game double fault, he broke Fritz three times including to win the first set.

“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.”

Rublev entered the event having lost four straight matches. Now he’s poised to win a second Masters title.

“Mentally I was feeling much better and I was able to perform,” said Rublev. “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.”

In his 25th career final, the Russian will collide with Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian has enjoyed arguably the strangest road ever to a Masters final with six matches scheduled and only three were completed.

Auger-Aliassime got a retirement from Jakob Mensik in the second round, a walkover from Jannik Sinner in the quarters and today first time Masters semifinalist Jiri Lehecka retired with a back issue at 3-all in the first set!

It’s Auger-Aliassime’s biggest career final.

“It’s crazy. I don’t know if I’s every happened to a player before,” Auger-Aliassime told the ATP. “It’s kind of a weird situation to be in on my part. It’s never happened to me in my career so far, a withdrawal or a walkover or retirement of this sort, and back-to-back like this. I couldn’t believe what was happening when I saw his back locked on him.

“I feel really bad for him. I’ve had injuries myself, and we can all imagine how it feels to come out on a night like this, hoping to win to go through, having a battle with your opponent, and not being able to play. I have a lot of empathy for Jiri, and I can’t do anything but try to prepare for Sunday.”

Rublev has won four of five from Auger-Aliassime defeating him earlier this year in Rotterdam. The winner Sunday becomes a new Madrid Masters champion.