Carlos Alcaraz saw his hopes of a hat-trick of Madrid Open titles ended in stunning fashion by Andrey Rublev on Wednesday.
Rublev scored the biggest victory of his career on clay as he defeated Alcaraz 4-6 6-3 6-2 under the roof of the Manolo Santana Stadium.
The seventh seed hit 30 winners and frequently entered the baseline to rush the Spaniard, who was below average after his fourth-round battle against Jan-Lennard Struff.
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Rublev was furious with the referee over the protest procedure after he erased the mark from the ball before HawkEye had given his verdict
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Rublev says he was very impressed by his ability to stay calm during his victory against Alcaraz
“I can’t believe I was able to stay calm throughout the match. I didn’t say a word and even I am impressed by that,” said Rublev, a 10-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist . Sky Sports Tennis.
“I want to believe that I worked on this because otherwise I’m stupid. After so many years, not improving on it would mean that something is wrong with my head. I just told myself that I had to keep trying, keep fighting, keep believing in yourself.
“I just wanted to go and I thought maybe I would have more break points and in the end I managed to come back well and break it. That gave me confidence and I went for it and little by little I was able to do it.
“The atmosphere was crazy and it was nice to play here.”
Alcaraz, who missed the clay-court events in Monte Carlo and Barcelona due to a right arm injury, follows fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal out of the tournament in a disappointing 24 hours for home fans.
“A superb victory for Rublev”
“I thought Carlos Alcaraz would go to the next level, but thanks to Rublev he played tennis at full strength,” said former player Colin Fleming.
“I’m not sure everything is going well with Alcaraz, but I don’t want to take anything away from Rublev, it was an incredible victory.
“Sometimes it takes a match, a set or a shot to start feeling it again. It’s easy to panic and think you won’t win a match, but one moment can change that.
“It’s thanks to Rublev and his team, they kept believing and turned things around.”
Tale of the gang
Rybakina survives Putintseva scare to reach semi-finals
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Highlights of Yulia Putintseva vs. Elena Rybakina in the Madrid Open Quarterfinals
Fourth seed Elena Rybakina recovered from a set down to beat fellow Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 in a battle lasting two hours and 48 minutes.
Putintseva, 50th, looked set to cause an upset by putting in a near-flawless performance to win the first set in 45 minutes, but Rybakina managed to regain her composure and saved two match points at 5-2 in the final. together.
“It was really difficult. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I hoped I would start better… it wasn’t always easy to come back,” Rybakina said.
“At 2-5, I already put aside the emotions and frustration and continued playing. The momentum changed. Yulia started to get a little more angry and some mistakes helped me .I just kept playing.
“I am very happy.”
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Putintseva was booed off the court after smashing her racket in frustration during her loss to Rybakina.
Next up for Rybakina will be world number 2 Aryna Sabalenka or 17-year-old Russian sensation Mirra Andreeva, who will face off later.
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