Andrey Rublev refuses to panic as he brings Carlos Alcaraz’s Madrid streak to an end

Andrey Rublev was well aware of his need to control his emotions as he faced Carlos Alcaraz in a big match for the world No 8.

Rublev has been prone to meltdowns on court in the past, a side to him that has already reared its head this season.

The world No 8 had identified the need to remain calm as the key to getting a win against a top opponent.

Rublev went through the entirety of 2023 without claiming a top-three win but has ended that drought and improved to 8-10 against players ranked in the top three.

The Russian belted 30 winners and took to stepping inside the baseline to rush the Spaniard to great effect, to secure the win in two hours and 50 minutes win in the fourth round against Jan-Lennard Struff.

Rublev arrived in Madrid suffering a four-match losing streak stretching back to his third round loss to Jiri Lehecka at Indians Wells.

Apart from remaining calm, Rublev also felt that getting his serve dialled in through the match helped him to end Alcaraz’s quest to claim a third straight Madrid Open title.

“I think the serve saved me a lot of times today,” Rublev said.

“I think the key was I was completely calm the whole match. 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 conceded that he felt like the bottom had fallen out of his season during his long barren run through March and April.

He believes that it is often better for players to put thoughts of how well or badly they are doing out of their minds.

“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 in response to being questioned about his recent run.

“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.”

Rublev has done enough to secure a move up to No 7 on the ATP Rankings and he could take over the No 6 ranking if he sweeps to the Madrid Open title.

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