Carlos Alcaraz could have broken a record at the Madrid Open by winning this match, but Andrey Rublev proved just a bit too good.
This was a hugely surprising result because Alcaraz has played well in Madrid. Rublev has been all over the place in recent weeks, so nobody saw him really beating the Spaniard here. The Spaniard's opening set was a really solid one, and he took it 6-4.
It was a pretty competitive set with chances on both sides, but the problem was that the 20-year-old was just too good. He won the most crucial points, and the margins were on his side. That's what kind of changed as the match went on; he wasn't as sharp as he was in the opening set.
Rublev played really well in that first set; he served well but misfired a bit too often. That's what it takes to beat Alcaraz on this court; you have to go above and beyond. Rublev took the second set 6-3 because he flipped the script. He was just too strong with 10 winners as opposed to Alcaraz, who lost those margins.
The match was a match of margins throughout, as it generally is with top players like this. Rublev also served really well in the crucial moments. At the start of the third, after breaking Alcaraz, the home player faced break points but served his way out of them.
Any time Alcaraz created a chance, he would find a crazy angle, which would set him up for the forehand. The final set wasn't that great from Alcaraz, who was simply overwhelmed by Rublev, who was hitting all the corners.
It didn't matter if it was the serve or the groundstrokes; Rublev was just playing sharper than Alcaraz, and it was reflected in the score. The final score was 4-6 6-3 6-2 for the Russian, who just had one of those crazy days when everything works. It's unfortunate that it happened today because it cost Alcaraz two records.
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