the greek Stefanos Tsitsipas will play in the semifinals of Madrid Masters 1,000 after using his serve -81% of the points in the former- to defeat the Russian Andrew Rublev by 6-3, 2-6 and 6-4, in two hours and one minute.
Tsitsipas, fifth in the world ranking, continues to seek the Madrid title, which will add to this year’s win at the Monte Carlo tournament. The Athenian could not endorse his good moments in Barcelona, where Carlos Alcaraz stopped him in the quarterfinals.
His rival in the semifinals will be the winner of the cross between German Alexander Zverev, who is defending the title, and Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The 3-0 lead to open the match gave Tsitspas room to clinch the first set, particularly in the face of Rublev’s pointless game, which once again sparked anger as things soured for him.
The Russian was forced to improve his serve, after Tsisipas closed out the first set with five direct points and Rublev was gone.
The Russian’s past ups and downs have given way to a stage of inspiration in which he has improved in all his shots: in serving, but also in exchanges, being involved in court and with initiative in his racket. Three consecutive games he was ahead 5-2. When Tsitsipas seemed to stop the bleeding on his serve, a new Muscovite ‘break’ delivered the fight in the third set.
The two go to the locker room, both with reason to reflect. They played eight times then, with four wins each, although Tsitsipas has a favorable record on the ground. No favorites to be considered.
Greek realizes that Rublev’s reaction isn’t a matter of a few games and returns to the game. That was the best moment of the encounter, when they played every point as if it were the decisive one. Tsitsipas won his serves comfortably and the biggest fight was with Rublev.
Linking some successes or mistakes can be definite. Rublev, at 4-4 and serving, missed two easy shots and lost his serve in love. At the worst moment, with Tsitsipas, who has nine aces, ready to close.
Although the nervousness of the impending close prompted him to give up two break points, the first in the set, a mixture of courage and luck allowed him to win.
Rublev, eighth in the world, has won three titles this year in 2022, Marseille, Dubai and Belgrade.
Source: La Verdad
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