In the Caja Magica Masters 1000 there is another injury and it is that of the Czech who stops with the Canadian. The Russian had beaten Fritz in the first semi-final
Luigi Ansaloni
May 3, 2024 (changed at 9.45pm) – MILAN
The final of the Masters 1000 in Madrid will be between Andrey Rublev and Felix Auger Aliassime, but the worrying trail of injuries in recent days continues in Spain. Something never seen before. The second semi-final of the day, the one between the Canadian and Jiri Lehecka, lasted six games, the time for the Czech to raise the white flag, unable to continue the match with the result 3-3. Auger Aliassime thus reaches his first final of a Masters 1000: three of his opponents (Mensik, Sinner and Lehecka) have withdrawn, and if this is not an absolute record in a tournament, it is close.
LIKE BRADBURY
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It could be said that the Canadian, however a former top ten player born in 2000, in Madrid was a sort of Steven Bradbury, the Australian skater who won gold in a rather fortunate way at the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, but in reality Auger Aliassime has the talent to be a really strong player and has always had it, but unfortunately for him he has a character that doesn’t go hand in hand with his tennis. The former pupil of coach Toni Nadal (he himself announced the separation) will be Andrey Rublev, returning from a terrible period, with defeats in the first rounds of repeated tournaments.
Now the Russian, suddenly, finds himself deservedly in the final of a Masters 1000 for the fifth time in his career. In fact, in the semi-final of the Spanish tournament on clay, the world number eight beat the American Taylor Fritz in two sets, a 6-4 6-3 that allows no replies. In two months Rublev had won only one match, and the clay court season had started as badly as it could have: a bloody defeat in Monte Carlo, where he was the reigning champion, in the first round, same thing in Barcelona. Everything could have been thought of, therefore, except that the Russian would have been a protagonist on the pitches of the Caja Magica. Instead, little by little, Rublev found his tennis again, and the victory in the quarterfinals against Carlos Alcaraz, although the Spaniard was certainly not in ideal shape (as demonstrated by his withdrawal from the Rome Internationals), further reinvigorated him. Even against Fritz we saw glimpses of that Rublev who when he is in shape (even mentally), he is a player who can hurt many.
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