Andrey Rublev wins the final against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime – after a crazy route to the final
Russian tennis pro Andrey Rublev has won his second Masters title on the ATP Tour in Madrid. The 26-year-old beat the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 4:6, 7:5, 7:5 in the final. Rublev had triumphed for the first time last year in Monte Carlo, also on clay, at one of the nine tournaments in the highly lucrative series.
Auger-Aliassime (23), who is trained by Rafael Nadal’s uncle and long-time coach Toni Nadal, had a “crazy” path to his first Masters final, as he himself admitted.
Has this ever happened before?
Two opponents retired injured, including the Czech Jiri Lehecka in the semi-finals. Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner (Italy) did not even compete due to a hip injury. “I don’t know if this has ever happened to a player before,” said Auger-Aliassime.
Rublev follows Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) in the list of winners, having beaten the two-time tournament winner in the quarter-finals. After his 16th ATP title, Rublev climbed two places to sixth in the rankings on Monday and also reduced the gap to Alexander Zverev in fifth place. The Olympic champion from Hamburg, two-time champion in Madrid, was surprisingly eliminated in the round of 16.