Andriej Rubliow

[Art]

[Art]

[Art]

[Art]

[Art]

[Kamileki]

[Kamileki]

[no-handed backhand]

#11) Belgrad 2022


TennisTV

R1 wolna runda
R2 [Q] Jiri Lehecka 4‑6 7‑6(1) 6‑2
QF [Q] Taro Daniel 6-3 6-3
SF [6] Fabio Fognini 6-2 6-2
W [1] Novak Djoković 6-2 6-7(4) 6-0

[Damian]

[Damian]

[Bombardiero]

[Barty]

Dangerous On Clay: While they might not be at the very top of the favourites’ list in Madrid, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev, the fifth and sixth seeds, respectively, are dangerous players on clay. Ruud made the semi-finals at last year’s Nitto ATP Finals on a hard court, but he made his ascent off the back of impressive clay-court play. The Norwegian has claimed six of his seven ATP Tour titles on the surface, including a victory earlier this year in Buenos Aires. Ruud opens against Croatian Borna Coric or a qualifier.

Unlike Ruud, Rublev is known for his hard-court play with his booming groundstrokes, especially his forehand. But his game has translated well to clay, on which he has earned three titles, including one last week in Belgrade, where he upset Djokovic in the final. The second seed, who is making his second appearance in Madrid, will face Italian Lorenzo Sonego or British wild card Jack Draper in the second round.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/madrid- ... ing-report

[Damian]

[Damian]

Back From The Brink, Rublev Edges Draper In Madrid

Spoiler:

World No. 8 seeking maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown
Andrey Rublev survived a major scare Tuesday at the Mutua Madrid Open, edging past #NextGenATP Briton Jack Draper 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the third round.

The World No. 8 arrived in Madrid high in confidence following his title run at the Serbia Open in Belgrade last month. However, he was tested to his limits against wild card Draper in a heavy-hitting clash as he rallied from 0-3 in the third set to eventually advance after two hours and 19 minutes.

Draper has captured four ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2022 and showed everyone why with his relentless aggression on Manolo Santana Stadium. The 20-year-old, who is fifth in the ATP Race To Milan, caused Rublev problems throughout as he swung his lefty serve with accuracy before ultimately fading near the end in the lively conditions.

Rublev is making his second appearance at the ATP Masters 1000 event and recovered after a stuttering start against the World No. 121, finding greater control from the baseline as the match went on to reach the third round in Madrid again.

Following his victory, the 24-year-old will next play Daniel Evans, Roberto Bautista Agut or Jenson Brooksby, with Briton Evans awaiting the winner of the match between the Spaniard and the American.

Rublev is aiming to clinch his maiden Masters 1000 crown this week, having earned a joint tour-leading three trophies in 2022 (Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal).

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/draper- ... 22-tuesday

[Damian]

[Kamileki]

[Kamileki]

[robpal]

[Damian]

[Damian]

Rublev Ousts Evans To Reach Madrid QFs

Spoiler:

Sixth seed to face Tsitsipas or Dimitrov next at ATP Masters 1000 event
Andrey Rublev’s strong run of form on the European clay was given another stern test on Thursday at the Mutua Madrid Open, but the sixth seed demonstrated his resilience under pressure to defeat Daniel Evans and reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time.

Rublev extended his winning streak to six matches with a 7-6(7), 7-5 win over World No. 36 Evans, once again demonstrating his on-court problem-solving abilities as he recovered a slow start to secure a two-hour, 29-minute win. His two victories so far this week mean he has risen two places to No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Just as in his second-round match with #NextGenATP contender Jack Draper, Rublev found himself trailing early against a British opponent before the power of his groundstrokes took him to victory. Rublev has shown glimpses this week in Madrid of the ball-striking that took him past World No. 1 Novak Djokovic to an 11th tour-level title in Belgrade eleven days ago. The sixth seed will now seek greater consistency at the Caja Magica as he hunts a maiden Masters 1000 title.


A bright Evans start took the Brit to a 3-1 lead early in Manolo Santana Stadium as a frustrated Rublev struggled to settle. Once the World No. 8 found his groove, however, he began to dominate rallies with his trademark forceful groundstrokes from deep. Evans stuck with him to force a tie-break and carved out a set point at 7/6, but Rublev held his nerve to secure the opening set with a third set point of his own.

Evans is not renowned for his clay-court pedigree, but his semi-final run at the 2021 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters showed that the Brit is still more than capable on the red dirt. After falling behind 3-1 in the second set he pegged back the free-flowing Rublev, crafting a series of elegant backhand passing shots to recover to 5-5.

The constant threat of the Rublev return took its toll at the most crucial of moments, however. The sixth seed broke again at 6-5 before serving out to complete his 25th match win of the season and take a 3-2 lead in his ATP Head2Head series with Evans.

The win takes Rublev to a seventh Masters 1000 quarter-final, where he will face either fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or Grigor Dimitrov.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/tsitsip ... 2-thursday