World No. 8 Rublev ruins Auger-Aliassime bid for 1st Masters title

Andrey Rublev rallied to beat Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime in three sets on Sunday and win the Madrid Open for the first time.

Rublev won 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 after Auger-Aliassime double-faulted on the last point of the final at the clay-court tournament in the Spanish capital.

It was the second Masters 1000 title for the eighth-ranked Rublev. The 26-year-old Russian also won at Monte Carlo last year. Auger-Aliassime was playing in his first final at this level.

Rublev entered Madrid on a four-game losing streak after early exits at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Barcelona. One of his victories in Madrid came in the quarterfinals against home-crowd favourite Carlos Alcaraz.

The 26-year-old Russian had come into the tournament in Madrid in poor form having lost his previous four matches on the tour but dropped only two sets en route to the title.

"No words, if you knew what I've been through in the last nine days, you wouldn't imagine that I would be able to win a title... Last six weeks I was losing in the first rounds," said Rublev, who had been struggling with a fever during the tournament, recovered to prevail in a little under three hours.

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"I was [close to pulling out] because there were few issues I couldn't fix, but I have to give full credit to the doctors. They were magical and did some tricky things... Somehow I was able to play. I've never seen this in my life.

"I would say this is the most proud title of my career. I didn't sleep well the last three-four days."

Rublev now has 16 career titles, and two this season after Hong Kong in January. He had arrived with a 5-1 record against Auger-Aliassime, including a win in their sole