After spending the past few months searching for form after his debacle with the line-judge in Dubai, Andrey Rublev is back into a final and will face the winner of Jiri Lehecka or Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday at the Madrid Open.
Rublev took down Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 in the semi-finals in just over an hour and 14 minutes and is into a fifth ATP Masters 1000 final on the eve of Roland Garros and with many other players injured or not on form, it could be his time.
He will be the favourite to seal the title on Sunday given the state of the opposite half of the draw and Rublev continues to have a great two weeks in Madrid. It was breaks of serve to start off the tie with both losing their serve. But it was Rublev who consolidated. Neither player gave an inch with mainly rampant service holds. But it was Fritz that blinked first as Rublev took a.40-0 break to seal the opening set 6-4.
He survived break points to avoid a similar outcome to begin the second as he went 1-0 up and he broke himself at 4-2 which proved to be the killer blow. He went 40-0 up initially and had to go through three break points as Fritz nearly stopped him. But it proved not to be the case as both held fairly comfortably from there including Rublev for the match.
After all his recent poor form coming into the tournament where he could barely win a game, he is putting it right this week and is back on song. Fritz too who has enjoyed success earlier this year, but not regularly has also had a superb week despite being defeated at the semi-final hurdle by Rublev. Onto Rome for Fritz and onto Sunday's final for Rublev.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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