the russian Karen Khachanov, tenth seed in the Madrid Masters 1,000, eliminated her compatriot and doubles partner, Andrey Rublevfifth favorite, by 7-6 (8) and 6-4 and qualified for the first time in his career for the quarterfinals of a tournament of this category on clay.
Semifinalist this year at the Australian Open and in Miami, and defeated Roberto Bautista in the previous round in Madrid, will play against the winner of the clash between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverevrepeat last year’s final and stellar clash in the round of 16.
Rublev beat him just three weeks ago in Monte Carlo, where he won his first Masters 1,000but in Madrid’s Caja Mágica he squandered many chances to get ahead and Khachanov got his revenge.
The first set was an intense and very even battle, with Khachanov solid and Rublev very inspired, even losing his composure at various times, angry at his own decisions or the decisions of chair umpire.
With neither of them getting a chance to break a full sleeve, in the tiebreaker game Rublev served twice to win and lost both of his serves. He then saved three set points before finally giving up the set, also when he held serve.
The first ‘break’ ball against Rublev came in the first game of the second set, although he saved all three. But he couldn’t hold his next serve (2-1), which he dropped when he sent a simple volley wide, with Khachanov in the other corner of the court. Rublev was very angry and furiously slammed the racket on the ground.
The fifth seed found no way to recover the lost serve. Khachanov played a lot of first serve and gave up few chances and, at 5-4 and serving, Rublev helped him to the win with another error.
The two Russians are friends and husband and wife at the doubles tournament in Madrid and this Monday they eliminated the fifth favorite, Croatian Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic.
‘Long live Spain’, wrote the Russian, a disciple of the Spanish Pepo Clavetin the track room after his victory over Rublev.
For his part, a diminutive Jaume Munar due to back discomfort from the end of the first set, he bid farewell to the tournament by losing in the round of 16 against German Daniel Altmaierexited the qualifying phase and is now in the quarterfinals.
The German, debutant in Madrid and that he has not achieved three consecutive victories in any race on the circuit this season, won 6-3 and 6-0, in one hour and 25 minutes. For the first time in his career, he will play in the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000, against the winner of the match between Alejandro Davidovich and the Croatian Borna Coric.
Munar missed a great opportunity to extend his quest to a Masters 1000 tournament. With the final in Marbella in 2021 as the only relevant event on the circuit, he meets an opponent with the lowest ranking and who he always wins. The Spaniard beat the German at Roland Garros 2022 and at Buenos Aries 2021.
Semifinalist in Santiago this year, Munar grinned as he felt his back ache on the last stretch of the first sleeve. He sought help from the physiotherapist but did not recover and ended up unopposed to Altmaier, who became the second play-off in the history of the competition to place in the best eight of the tournament.
Munar, who was one of the four Spanish survivors of the tournament, left Madrid after signing his best performance at Caja Mágica. In his three previous appearances he has never reached the fourth round.
Source: La Verdad
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