Madrid Open: Andrey Rublev Subtly Snubs Novak Djokovic for Carlos Alcaraz as Tricky Question Puts Him on the Spot

Looking to win some big titles this year, things haven’t gone the way Andrey Rublev would have liked. He has struggled with form and fitness which has resulted in an inconsistent run across the tournaments this season. However, Rublev is finally finding some joy at the ongoing Madrid Open. Yesterday, he recorded a shock win against the local favorite, Carlos Alcaraz. Subsequently, he had some special words about his performance and compared it with his win over Novak Djokovic.

The Russian star has won just a solitary title this year which came in Hong Kong. He has failed to lift his game when it mattered the most but on this occasion, he kept his cool to get the better of Alcaraz. During the post-match interview, the Russian star was asked to rank his win over Alcaraz. Interestingly, it was his maiden win over the Spaniard and as a result, he cherished his performance in Madrid. Rublev said, “It’s tough to say because every these kind of matches I’m facing something different outside of tennis.”

Further, he went on to add, “All these wins they mean to me in a different way now I was this win was important to me because I was a bit struggling for the six weeks for the last six weeks was not winning matches and now suddenly out of nowhere I started to play since the first round really well and I end up winning to again against Carlos.”

Meanwhile, Rublev has a solitary win against Djokovic in the six matches they have played against each other. It came in 2022 when the Russian star defeated Djokovic in the Belgrade final. However, Rublev felt that his win over Alcaraz was far superior to that against Djokovic. The match wasn’t short of emotions as Rublev registered a big victory after many tournaments and Alcaraz failed to have a positive comeback from injury.

Carlos Alcaraz suffered an emotional breakdown

Despite putting in all the hard work, Alcaraz wasn’t back to full fitness. He suffered a right forearm injury earlier this season and was making a comeback in Madrid. However, Rublev’s superior performance ended his comeback stint early.

During the match, Alcaraz wasn’t feeling at his best and suffered an emotional breakdown in the mid-game interval. Subsequently, Rublev consoled him after the match, and his act won many hearts. The match could’ve gone either way if not for Alcaraz’s injury, but it was Rublev who eventually prevailed in three sets.

While Alcaraz will look to regain full fitness before the French Open, Rublev faces Taylor Fritz in the Madrid Open semifinals. It’ll be interesting to see if the Russian star can lift the trophy in Madrid.