Andrey Rublev Wins the Madrid Open Despite Fighting Felix Auger-Aliassime and Illness

Despite suffering from sickness, Andrey Rublev won the Madrid Open on Sunday, defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to claim his second championship of the year.

Following his second Masters 1000 triumph of the career, the Russian world number eight said he was “almost dead every day” and could hardly sleep this week.

Before traveling to the Spanish city, Rublev had lost his previous four games, but he overcame a setback to defeat his Canadian opponent.

The 26-year-old turned around his fortunes in Madrid, losing only one set en route to what turned out to be a nail-biting final. He had won the Hong Kong Open in January but has struggled subsequently.

“I think the most important thing was that the people enjoyed it,” Rublev said on the court. “I think it was an incredible match; Felix deserved (in the same way as me) to win today and we showed a great battle together.”

“This is how our sport works; we can’t have two winners.”

Rublev, who defeated double champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals to win the Madrid title, acknowledged that he felt unwell at times throughout the week but thanked his doctors for getting him through.

“You wouldn’t think that I could win a title if you knew what I had gone through in the last nine days,” he said.

“I was not sleeping at night, and for the last three or four days, I was practically dead every day.”

The ATP draw at the clay-court event was beset by tragedy as Auger-Aliassime advanced to the final after his opponent Jiri Lehecka resigned injured in the semi-finals and opponent Jannik Sinner withdrew with a hip ailment in the quarterfinals.

But in his maiden Masters 1000 final appearance, the 23-year-old Canadian, who is ranked 35th in the world, gave it all he had.

tense conflict

Auger-Aliassime got off to a fantastic start, winning the opening game 4-1 after breaking for love twice more.

After Auger-Aliassime went long, Rublev gained a break and steadied to take a 4-3 lead.

With a forehand down the line, Auger-Aliassime sealed the victory at the second attempt, but the Russian held onto a set point to trail 5-4.

After Rublev missed a break opportunity in the second set, the Canadian held for 3-3 with an incredible drop shot.

They held serve until Rublev had two set points in the twelfth game, winning the second to send the match to a decisive third set.

In the second game and the fourth, Rublev forced two break points that he was unable to take as he quickly progressed through his service games and applied intense pressure on his opponent’s serve.

Auger-Aliassime outplayed Rublev in aces throughout the match, producing massive serves to battle his way out of difficult situations.

Though Auger-Aliassime trailed in all of his service games but consistently rallied, Rublev only gave up three points on his serve in the third set. This continued until the pivotal 12th game.

Rublev was awarded the championship after Auger-Aliassime double-failed, sending the Russian reeling to the ground.