Félix Auger-Aliassime reached the final four of the Madrid Tennis Open without even hitting a single shot in the quarter-finals.
The tournament organizing committee announced Wednesday that the tournament favorite and opponent of the Quebecer in the quarter-finals, Jannik Sinner, had withdrawn from the competition.
“Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the Mutua Madrid Open due to a right hip injury. As a result, he will not be able to participate in his quarter-final match on Thursday against Félix Auger-Aliassime,” we could read on the official X account of the tournament.
Auger-Aliassime will therefore face in the semi-finals the winner of the duel between the Russian Daniil Medvedev (no. 3) and the Czech Jiri Lehecka (no. 30), who ousted the Spaniard Rafael Nadal on Tuesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, Andrey Rublev put an end to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz’s hopes of winning a third consecutive title at the Madrid Tennis Open, in the quarter-finals of the tournament presented on clay.
The second-seeded Spaniard got off to a good start before being dominated by Rublev en route to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 defeat at the ‘Caja Magica’.
Alcaraz, who had already experienced his share of problems before defeating the German Jan-Lennard Struff in three sets on Tuesday, seemed flat, and made numerous errors towards the end of his duel against the seventh seed of tournament series.
It was his first tournament after missing Monte Carlo and Barcelona due to a right forearm injury. The 20-year-old tennis player arrived in Madrid saying he would be happy to play three or four matches in the Spanish capital.
At one point, while trailing in the third set, Alcaraz gripped his forearm tightly during a break. He pulled on a compression sleeve to cover his sore forearm.
Alcaraz was trying to become the first tennis player to win this tournament three times in a row. He had not lost in Madrid since 2021.
Rublev, who covets his second Masters 1000 series title after that acquired in Monte-Carlo last year, will face in the next round the winner of the duel between the American Taylor Fritz and the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo.
The eighth racket in the world was uncompromising from the start of the match, and Rublev dominated Alcaraz with 30 winners.
“My serve saved me several times today,” Rublev agreed. The key today was my ability to keep my cool. I didn’t say a single word, even when I was losing. That was the key for me, and I served even better towards the end of the match. At the beginning, my serve was not completely perfect, but slowly, after one set, I started to serve better and I finished the match strong. »
Rybakina wins Kazakh duel
In the women’s competition, fourth seed Elena Rybakina saved two match points and won 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5 in the quarterfinals against Yulia Putintseva.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion came from behind as she suffered a 2-5 deficit in the third set. The Kazakh also fell behind by a break early in the second set.
Rybakina won an eighth consecutive match and currently dominates the women’s circuit with a 30-4 record this season. She has recorded 16 straight victories on clay, and is trying to reach her sixth final this season.
Rybakina will meet in the women’s final four with the reigning champion, Aryna Sabalenka, or the 17-year-old Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva.
With Tales Azzoni, from the Associated Press