Madrid (Spain) – Qualified for the semifinals of the Masters 1000 in Madrid, Russian Andrey Rublev was very satisfied with his own performance in this Wednesday’s match against current champion Carlos Alcaraz. For the 26-year-old Russian, this was his best performance in recent times and reinforced and the key to victory was to remain calm in the crucial moments of the game.
“I hadn’t played so well in a while, I had an upward trend throughout the match and finished at the best possible level. I think that even if I had lost I would have nothing to blame myself for”, he said shortly after the 4/6, 6/3 and 6/2 comeback against Alcaraz.
“I think the serve saved me many times today, but the secret was to be completely calm throughout the match. I didn’t say a word, even when I was losing. That was the secret and I managed to serve even better towards the end. At the beginning, I wasn’t serving well, but little by little, after the first set, I served better and better and finished very well”, added the Russian, who was praised by his opponent.
Champion in Monte Carlo last season, Rublev has that title as the only Masters 1000 win in his career, but has now reached his eighth semi-final. The result couldn’t come at a better time than this, as the current eighth-placed team in the rankings is going through a complicated phase, with three eliminations in their debuts and another in the second round in the last four tournaments they have played.
“When you start to think about how good everything is, for six weeks I didn’t win anything. So it’s better not to think about it. [Acredito] that it’s just a moment and that it happens to everyone. Every player has been through this and the most important thing is to keep working and improving”, he stressed.
Hegemony against Spaniards on clay
Andrey Rublev’s victory over Carlos Alcaraz this Wednesday further improved the Russian’s record against Spanish players on clay. Throughout his career, he has never lost a match on clay to a Hispanic opponent on the ATP circuit, now reaching his 13th consecutive victory.
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Rublev’s run began in April 2015, when he defeated Fernando Verdasco in his debut in Barcelona. His biggest victims were Roberto Bautista Agut and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who were overtaken three times each by the Russian.
See Rublev’s record against Spaniards on clay:
Andrey Rublev v. Fernando Verdasco (1st round of Barcelona, 2015), 7/6(4) and 6/3
Andrey Rublev v. Pablo Carreño Busta (Hamburg Semifinal, 2019), 4/6, 7/5 and 6/1
Andrey Rublev v. Roberto Bautista Agut (Hamburg Wednesdays, 2020), 6/2 and 7/5
Andrey Rublev v. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (2nd round of Roland Garros, 2020), 7/5, 6/1, 3/6 and 6/1
Andrey Rublev v. Roberto Bautista Agut (Monte Carlo Octaves, 2021), 7/6(2), 5/7 and 6/3
Andrey Rublev v. Rafael Nadal (Monte Carlo Quarterfinals, 2021), 6/2, 4/6 and 6/2
Andrey Rublev v. Albert Ramos (Barcelona Eighth, 2021), 6/4, 6/7(4) and 6/4
Andrey Rublev v. Roberto Bautista Agut (Rome Octave, 2021), 6/4 and 6/4
Andrey Rublev v. Jaume Munar (2nd round of Monte Carlo, 2023), 4/6, 6/2 and 6/2
Andrey Rublev v. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (3rd round of Rome, 2023), 7/6(8) and 6/3
Andrey Rublev v. Bernabe Zapata Miralles (1st round of Hamburg, 2023), 5/7, 6/1 and 7/6(7)
Andrey Rublev v. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (3rd round of Madrid, 2024), 7/6(10) and 6/4
Andrey Rublev v. Carlos Alcaraz (Madrid Wednesdays, 2024), 4/6, 6/3 and 6/2
25th victory against top 10
This Wednesday’s triumph against the current world number 3 also meant Rublev’s 25th career victory against top 10 opponents, in 64 games played. Among the Russian’s victims are Grigor Dimitrov, Dominic Thiem (three times), Roger Federer, Stefanos Tsitsipas (five times), Roberto Bautista Agut, Matteo Berrettini, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev (twice), Félix Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic , Cameron Norrie, Holger Rune (twice), Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur and now Carlos Alcaraz.
Against top 3, the Russian’s record is now eight wins and ten losses. Of these triumphs, six were against those in third place on the ATP list, one against the second placed and another against the leader of the ranking, in the latter case the Serbian Novak Djokovic, in the final of the ATP 250 in Belgrade in 2022.
