Andrey Rublev stunned World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open 2024. After Jannik Sinner declared a walkover against Felix Auger-Aliassime due to his hip injury, Andrey Rublev now stands as the firm favorite to win the tournament. However, his old foe Taylor Fritz still stands in his way in the semi-final.
Fritz and Rublev have quite a colorful rivalry and the Russian once spoke about an unusual, funny incident that took place during the Monte Carlo Masters 2023 match.
Andrey Rublev and Taylor Fritz faced each other in the semifinals in Monte Carlo last year. After Rublev won, he narrated a hilarious anecdote to Prakash Amritraj of Tennis Channel after he beat Fritz.
“When I went to the bathroom, I get pissed. Throw a couple bottles of water. And then I say, ‘Good job, your head is so good. Because of your head again, one more semifinal you lost.’ And then I start to play better,” Rublev was quoted as saying.
In that match, Rublev had lost the first set 5-7 and was on the back foot. After the set, he took a break and went to the washroom. While the presumption was that the break would help him reset, no one knew what he did inside.
This was until Rublev shared the funny incident on air. The trick worked since he won the next two sets 6-1, 6-3 and won the match. The Russian also explained his winning mantra that helped him beat Fritz back then and is expected to use the same in Madrid this time too –
“When the conditions are cold, then it’s more about physical and endurance. It’s tougher to hit winner, you need to have patience, you need to wait for the right moment. The ball is much heavier, so it’s tougher to try and control.”, Rublev added.
On top of playing on clay, the conditions were wet and tricky after prolonged rainfall. Once the game resumed, it suited Rublev more than Fritz. Rublev had a 65% first serve win percentage, which was only slightly ahead of Fritz’s 64%. But the one area where Rublev completely outplayed Fritz was the number of unforced errors.
While Rublev made 16 unforced errors, Fritz made 26. After the rain break, Fritz kind of lost rhythm in the match which shows a lapse of concentration more than anything else.
Rublev was also the runner-up of the 2021 Monte-Carlo Masters when he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas. He also has the distinction of beating World No.1 Novak Djokovic on clay at the 2022 Serbia Open.
Taylor Fritz’s Girlfriend Is a Huge Fan of Andrey Rublev
Businesswoman-turned-social media influencer Morgan Riddle, the girlfriend of Taylor Fritz, had some good words to say about Andrey Rublev earlier in 2024 at the Australian Open.
During the Happy Slam, Andrey Rublev was playing his 3rd round match against Sebastian Korda. He was leading 3-2 when he noticed a cricket on the court. An insect of that miniature size was bound to get crushed under his shoes, but Rublev chose the path of kindness. He, with the help of ball boys, escorted the cricket out of court.
Watching the match, and thereby that moment, from home, Morgan Riddle was touched by that act of kindness.
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The Taylor Fritz camp surely looks up to Andrey Rublev a lot for his skills and personality. But despite being 3-5 behind on head-to-head, he will still be the favorite to win against Taylor Fritz in the Madrid Open 2024 semifinals.
