After arriving at the Mutua Madrid Open off the back of four straight defeats, 26-year-old Andrey Rublev charged to his second ATP Masters 1000 trophy with a series of rock-solid displays at the Caja Magica. In his typically endearing manner, Rublev later expressed his relief at rediscovering his best form so dramatically.
“I’m incredibly happy,” said the triumphant seventh seed after rallying past Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the championship match. “That one week changed everything, because now it looks like I was not losing these past weeks in the first round!”
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After winning 14 of his first 17 matches this year, Rublev revealed he did not panic when the victories dried up in March and early April.
“This season I started really well and I was playing amazing,” he said in his post-match press conference. “Then somehow I started to do a bit worse and then a couple of weeks I could not win a match. I think this is normal to have up-and-downs and everyone goes through this.”
Rublev next heads to Rome, where the ATP Tour’s top stars will compete for the final clay-court Masters 1000 title of the year at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and defending champion Daniil Medvedev lead the field, while record 10-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal will make his farewell appearance at the Foro Italico.
Photo/Andrey Rublev/X
ATP Tour contributed to this recap
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