Madrid (Spain) – Surprising finalists of the Masters 1000 in Madrid, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Andrey Rublev will fight, from 1:30 pm this Sunday, to consecrate an unlikely resurgence. Coming from similar phases in which nothing resembles their best days on the circuit, the Canadian and the Russian will have the chance to rewrite their own history and perhaps start a new chapter in their careers.
On the one hand, Aliassime arrives more rested for the decision, but the lack of rhythm could be a complication for the 23-year-old tennis player, who did not need to play in the quarter-finals due to Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal and Jiri Lehecka’s withdrawal. in the semi after just six games played in 33 minutes. His last full game came on Tuesday against Casper Ruud. In six rounds so far, the Canadian has only spent 6h38 on the court.
Above all this, however, there should be no lack of motivation for a player who will compete in his first Masters 1000 final and seek the biggest title of his career. Owner of five trophies on the circuit, he has three ATP 500 wins and two others at 250 level. In Masters, he had made two semis, in Miami (2019) and Paris (2022).
+ Click here and follow the TenisBrasil Channel on WhatsApp
Return to the top 20 and end of partnership with Toni Nadal
Even if the Caixa Mágica title doesn’t come, Aliassime has already guaranteed his return to the top 20 after six months. Currently in 35th place in the rankings, he is rising to 20th place, but could be 17th if he becomes champion. His personal record is sixth place in November 2022, in what was by far his best season, with four victories and an unprecedented participation in the ATP Finals.
During this period, he was already trained by the Spaniard Toni Nadal, with whom he worked for exactly three years and whose partnership ended a few weeks ago. The Canadian only confirmed the separation with Rafael Nadal’s uncle now in Madrid, admitting that the coach is no longer an active part of the team and that his father, Sam Aliassime, should participate more in the trips and be more active in the team.
Rublev puts his head on straight ends bad streak
On the other side of the court there will be Andrey Rublev also looking for resurrection. In addition to the bad results this season, coming from four consecutive defeats without winning a single set before arriving in Madrid, the Russian seemed lost emotionally since his disqualification in the semifinals of the ATP 500 in Dubai in February, after completely losing control in an argument with arbitration.
From then until the beginning of the dispute on Spanish clay, he only won a single match, in the debut of the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, against the British Andy Murray. To make matters worse, he was unable to defend his Monte Carlo title and fell from sixth to eighth in the rankings.
With your head on straight, as he himself admitted this week, Rublev has been playing high-level tennis at Caixa Mágica, beating four seeds in five games played. The biggest victory, without a doubt, was over current two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals, increasing his hegemony to 13 victories in 13 matches over Spanish opponents on clay.
Russo seeks second Masters
Champion in Monte Carlo last year, the Russian has three other Masters 1000 decisions in his career, finishing second in the Principality of Monaco and Cincinnati in 2021 and also in Shanghai in 2023. At 26 years old, he has 15 trophies in his career, the most recent of which took place in the first week of the current season, at the ATP 250 in Hong Kong.
Of all his achievements to date, Rublev has been champion five times on clay and ten on hard court. Since his first title on the circuit, in 2017, he only failed to lift at least one trophy in 2018, triumphing every year since then. With the campaign until the final, the Russian is taking seventh place in the ranking, leaving the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas behind. If he becomes champion on Sunday, he will also surpass Norwegian Casper Ruud.
Rublev dominates head-to-head
Since 2018, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Andrey Rublev have met five times on the circuit, and the Russian came out on top four times, including in the only match played on clay, in the round of 16 in Umag in 2018. He also won on the synthetic in Adelaide in 2020, Marseille in 2022 and Rotterdam in 2024. The Canadian only triumphed in Rotterdam two years ago.
