Andrey Rublev continued his good play at the 2024 Madrid Open by downing Taylor Fritz in two sets for his maiden final at the event.
After several weeks of struggles, Rublev found something at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid. This isn't an unfamiliar place for him, as he played well in the Spanish capital in the past, but it was good to see him back to playing good tennis regardless.
It started with a couple of solid wins, but the big one was the comeback win over Carlos Alcaraz, which surprised more than a few people. He kept that good level going with this performance, and it's notable mostly because Fritz has been a tricky opponent for him in the past.
The conditions also help the way he plays so Rublev was facing a tough challenge. He handled it about as well as he could have hoped, playing a complete match without too many errors.
We've seen him complicate matches in the past, but this was just a strong performance from start to finish. The opening set was decided in the final game when Rublev jumped out to a 40-0 lead on his opponent's serve, which was enough of a lead to convert and break.
Winning that first set was really important as the Russian dropped his serve in the first game but then broke back immediately after that. Stabilizing and finding his best tennis the way he did was very important.
After winning the opening set, everything was a bit easier. Fritz pushed really hard at the start of the second set but once again failed to convert the break points.
Rublev, on the other hand, converted the first break chances he got in the second set and, from there, calmly finished off the match, winning 6-4, 6-3. It's been a really strong showing from the Russian, who will contest his first Madrid Open final on Sunday, and he created mental improvement for his success after the win.
"Mentally I’ve been feeling much better. I was able to perform putting emotions in the right direction. It helped me to be in the final. Without this, I wouldn’t be in the final."
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