Alcaraz survived the collapse and replay of the final with Struff, Sinner had to turn around in Madrid

Struff-Alcaraz 3-6, 7-6, 6-7

Carlos Alcaraz missed the Masters in Monte Carlo due to a hand injury and was unable to defend his title in Barcelona, ​​and is now entering the clay spring at the Masters in Madrid. The champion of the last two years is apparently fit enough again, because he did not give Alexander Ševčenko or Thiago Seyboth Wild a chance and defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in the round of 16.

He met the German tennis player in the finals at this venue a year ago and also needed all three sets this time, even though he had a set and break lead. In addition, he could have closed the second set in a tie-break, but due to several cheap mistakes, he lost the lead 3:1 and lost five points in a row. Struff then sent the match into a decider with an elusive submission.

Alcaraz was in control of the final set for a long time. At 5:3, however, he threw away a 40:0 lead on service and made a double fault on the fourth match point. In the end, he still sweated a lot and won the duel only in a shortened game with a ratio of 7:4.

He is defending the title for the third time this season. In Buenos Aires, he unexpectedly lost the semifinals to Nicolás Jarry, he succeeded at the Masters in Indian Wells, and now he is attacking for a hat trick in Madrid. At the same time, he is starting at Caja Mágica for only the fourth time in his career, the only failure he recorded on his debut in 2021 against Rafael Nadal.

The successful defense of last year’s championship is very important to him. In the live rankings, he lags significantly behind Jannik Sinner and world number one Novak Djokovic. In the quarterfinals, his opponent will be Andrej Rublyov, with whom he won the only previous duel at last year’s Tournament of Champions.

Rublev arrived in Madrid on a four-game losing streak and will still get a chance to improve on his best at this venue. He beat Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 6-4 in the round of 16, not dropping a set in his third match at the tournament, and will be aiming for his first semi-final since his controversial disqualification in Dubai in early March.

Match statistics. (@livesport)

As expected, Struff ended his defense of last year’s sensational final already in the round of 16, and a significant drop in the rankings awaits him. In the new edition of the ranking, it will lose at least 16 places and will appear at the end of the top forty.

Fortunately for him, he built at least a partial points cushion two weeks ago in Munich. At the ATP 250 home clay event, he defeated Holger Rune and Taylor Fritz, among others, and shortly before his 34th birthday, he had his first triumph on the top circuit.

Sinner – Khachanov 5:7, 6:3, 6:3

Jannik Sinner is clearly the best player of the season so far. In the current year, he made it to at least the semifinals in all five tournaments, he became a brand new Grand Slam champion at the Australian Open, and he is on the verge of participating in the top quartet in Madrid as well.

However, he will most likely not be satisfied in terms of performance. In the previous round, he almost had to go to the deciding set, and in the round of 16 with Karen Chačanov, he did not avoid a three-set battle. In the opening act, he made too many mistakes, he did not make a single break point, and after less than an hour it was clear that he would have to reach for a turn. While he dominated in the second set, he had to eliminate two break points at the beginning of the decider. He then took the Russian’s serve in the fifth game, kept his lead and ended the duel with another break.

By progressing to the quarterfinals, he improved his maximum at the Madrid 1,000. He started in this venue for the first time three years ago and was eliminated in the second round, a year later he reached the round of 16 and last year he did not participate in one of the most prestigious tournaments due to health problems. This year in Caja Mágica, for the first time in his career, he fulfills the role of the number one seed at the Masters.

In addition, he reduced Novak Djokovic’s lead at the world number one position, which he could replace him in during the clay spring. In the last two matches, he was not 100% fit, after the match with Pavlo Kotov he confirmed a problem with his hip, and a slight restriction was also noticeable in the round of 16 with Chačanov.

In the quarter-finals, surprisingly, he will not face the hot Casper Ruud, but Félix Auger-Aliassime, with whom he loses 0:2 in the head-to-head record.

Ruud arrived in Madrid after participating in the finals at the Masters in Monte Carlo and after winning his biggest title at the 500 in Barcelona, ​​but he was eliminated at the Spanish 1000 in the round of 16 after sets 4:6, 5:7. The Canadian, who has been in a crisis for over a year, but has caught a very good form at the tournament, is fighting for his second semi-final of the year.

Results of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid

The article was originally published for Livesport Zprávy.