Resurgent Rublev defeats Davidovich Fokina to make last 16 in Madrid
Andrey Rublev beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (10), 6-4 at the Madrid Open. He will play Tallon Griekspoor, the 24th seed, in the next round
Andrey Rublev, Madrid Open, 2024 © Zuma / Panoramic
Andrey Rublev continued his resurgence from a post-Dubai slump by beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (10), 6-4 to move into the last 16 of the Madrid Open.
The Russian has endured a difficult couple of months since his controversial disqualification at the Dubai Tennis Championships back in early March.
Rublev’s results suffered an alarming dip in the following weeks as he won one and then lost the next four of his following five matches prior to the Madrid Open.
The rot was stopped against Bagnis in his opening-round match in the Spanish capital, before another impressive showing today against Davidovich Fokina further underlined Rublev’s welcome return to form.
The world No 8 looked back to his free-flowing best in the Caja Magica, coming through a testing examination against a highly adept Spanish clay-courter.
A very tight opening set needed the help of an epic tiebreak to separate the two players, with Rublev saving five set points en route to clinching the breaker 12-10 and moving into a one-set lead.
The pair then exchanged the first breaks of the match in the opening two games of the second set, before Rublev struck again in the ninth game. At 5-4 up and serving for the match, Rublev showed great composure to get over the line at the first time of asking and earn consecutive wins for the first time since late February.
“I don’t know,” was the Russian’s honest response to how he managed to get through a mammoth tiebreak having faced five set points.
“Alejandro served really well. He played really great points. I didn’t have many chances,” Rublev continued.
“When it was 0-5 I was mentally done. The first couple of points I played like I don’t care. Somehow I was able to win them.
“Then it was 2-5 on my serve and I was like ‘let’s try to keep your serve and maybe it’s going to be 4-5.’ The score became more tight and in the end I was able to come back.”
Addressing his recent quarter-season slump, Rublev said, “I feel great. I feel happy to win two matches in a row (smiling).
“That didn’t happen in a while. We’ll see what’s going to happen next.”
What’s next for Rublev is a meeting with dangerous Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, the 24th seed, who upset Holger Rune earlier in the day to progress.
A place in the quarter-finals of a Masters 1000 event is the prize on offer in that one. But for Rublev, the most significant aspect of his stay in Madrid is to elongate it as much as possible so as to firmly place the past eight weeks of poor form in the rear-view mirror.
So far, so good.
