Andrey Rublev recorded a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Carlos Alcaraz in a quarterfinal match on Wednesday, ending the Spaniard's bid to collect a third consecutive Mutua Madrid Open title.
The seventh-seeded Russian overcame dropping his first set of the tournament by taking advantage of miscues to dispatch the second-seeded Alcaraz in just over two hours at Manolo Santana Stadium.
Also on Wednesday, top-seeded Jannik Sinner announced on social media that he had to withdraw from the tournament due to a hip injury. The 22-year-old Italian was set to face Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in a quarterfinal match on Thursday.
"Very sad to have to withdraw from my next match here in Madrid," Sinner wrote on X. "My hip has been bothering me this week and has slowly been getting more painful. Taking the advice from the doctors we decided it's best to not play further and make it worse."
Sinner reached the quarterfinals at Madrid for the first time, rebounding from dropping the first set to defeat No. 16 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Rublev posted five aces and 27 winners to set up a semifinal match against 12th-seeded American Taylor Fritz, who went three sets to defeat 21st-seeded Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
Fritz hit five aces and won 83 percent (38 of 46) of his first serve points. Cerundolo hit one more winner (19-18) but committed 29 unforced errors, to 14 for his American opponent.
Rublev said his serve saved him "a lot of times" on Wednesday.
"I think the key was I was completely calm the whole match," Rublev said. "I did not say one word, even if I was losing. That was the key and I was able to serve even better near the end. In the beginning, I was not serving that well but little by little, after set one, I served better and better and finished really well."
Rublev, 26, is bidding for his 15th career title. He won an ATP 250 title in Hong Kong earlier this year.
"When you start to think of how good everything is, then for six weeks I was not winning at all. So it is better to not think at all," Rublev said. "That it is just a moment and it happens to everyone. Everyone has been through these moments and the most important thing is to keep working and keep improving."
Alcaraz appeared to run out of steam after defeating Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany in two hours and 50 minutes during their fourth-round match on Tuesday.--REUTERS
