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The World No. 8 Andrey Rublev ended No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz's Madrid dominance with a masterclass performance. The two-time defending champion Spaniard's quest for a historic third consecutive title at the ATP Masters 1000 event didn't get its fairytale ending.
Throughout the quarterfinal match, Rublev showed confidence and opened his shoulders to oust the No. 3 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 after two hours and a one-minute tense battle. Under the cover of Manolo Santana Stadium, the 26-year-old occasionally overpowered Alcaraz with his powerful forehand wing hits. After defeating Jan-Lennard Struff for two hours and fifty minutes in the fourth round, Rublev won thirty games and often stepped inside the baseline to pressure the Spaniard. "I think the serve saved me a lot of times today. I think the key was I was completely calm the whole match. I did not say one word, even if I was losing. That was the key and I was able to serve even better near the end. In the beginning, I was not serving that well but little by little, after set one, I served better and better and finished really well," Rublev said as quoted by ATP. Rublev improved to 8-10 versus Top 3 opponents with his 19th tour-level victory of the year. In the ATP Finals in 2022, he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas to record his most recent Top 3 victory. Alcaraz wanted to win three straight titles in Madrid and make history as the first player to do it. In his match against Rublev, the 20-year-old Spanish player got off to a fast start, but he was penalized for dropping the ball short. The World No. 8 repeatedly found the corners to cause the first defeat on Spanish territory at Alcaraz since Madrid in 2021. Despite coming into the clay-court tournament fresh off a four-match losing streak, Rublev has returned to his peak form. "When you start to think of how good everything is, then for six weeks I was not winning at all. So it is better to not think at all. That it is just a moment and it happens to everyone. Everyone has been through these moments and the most important thing is to keep working and keep improving," Rublev said on his recent run. After powerful initial deliveries, the titlist frequently used powerful groundstrokes, which Alcaraz was unable to counter in sets two and three. (ANI)
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