Stefanos Tsitsipas to Madrid Open semifinal over Rublev

Almost two hours and three sets were needed for Stefanos Tsitsipas to win the match against Andrey Rublev but he got it done 6-3 2-6 6-4.

The first set opened with Rublev once again making a very slow start. Similar to his match against Evans Rublev was once again very slow to start the match and Tsitsipas was able to take advantage of that with a fast start of his own. The Greek looked very focused and motivated to get the job done and early on it was working.

Rublev eventually caught up to his opponent in terms of play but it was too late. The Greek was focused and got the job done 6-3 in the opening set. In the 2nd set, Rublev finally looked like Rublev of old as he stormed right out of the gate. He moved well, he was hitting his forehand and it created a lot of trouble for Tsitsipas.

The Greek also suffered a dip in his own game and that was enough for the Russian to cruise to a 6-2 2nd set. The final set featured pretty strong play by both and it was a high-level match by both. We saw both winning games on their serve with ease until 4-4 when Rublev completely shut down losing his game without dropping a point.

In the next game, Rublev had 30-0 and 40-15 but failed to convert on that chance with some poor choices in the game. He certainly had a chance but ultimately in the two most crucial games of the match, Tsitsipas proved better winning the match and sending himself into the semifinals.