MADRID – Carlos Alcaraz is aiming to be “100 per cent” fit at the Italian Open in Rome next week after crashing out of the Madrid Open in the quarter-finals on May 1.
The 20-year-old’s hopes of becoming the first player to win three consecutive titles in the Spanish capital came undone as the second seed fell to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss in front of his home fans to Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev.
The two-time Grand Slam champion was not at his best despite taking the opening set in 41 minutes, while Rublev put in a dominant performance to roar back and snap Alcaraz’s 14-match winning streak at the Masters 1000 tournament.
Having successfully defended his Indian Wells title in March and then reached the Miami Open quarter-finals, Alcaraz injured his right forearm during a practice session in Monaco and he continues to struggle with the problem that has derailed the start of his clay-court season.
“I have to keep working to recover my normal forehand without thinking about my forearm. Today I thought about it more than yesterday,” he said.
“I’m going to go to Rome (next week). I’m going to work these days to be close to 100 per cent or in a good way to play Rome. I think that in Rome, I will continue to play with it (an arm sleeve) as a precaution.
“When I go out on court, I don’t want to lose. If we look at the overall (in Madrid), it has been a very good week.”
Alcaraz was the last Spaniard standing after 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal exited the tournament following a straight-set loss to the Czech Republic’s 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the round of 16 on April 30.
Rublev, meanwhile, will play his first semi-final in Madrid. The 26-year-old was on a four-match losing streak coming into the clay-court event.
“Maybe this week is a relief but then next week we go back to the same... so better not to think this way because when you start to think ‘Oh, how good everything is’ and then, for six weeks, I wasn’t winning anything,” he said.
“It’s better to not think at all. It’s not bad, it’s not good. It’s just a moment. It happens to everyone, every player has been through these moments. The most important thing is to keep working and improving, and then remember that one week can change anything.”
The Russian will face American Taylor Fritz in the semi-final on May 3 after the 12th seed battled past Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
Italian top seed Jannik Sinner, who was due to face Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals on May 2, pulled out from the tournament with a hip injury.
“Very sad to have to withdraw from my next match here in Madrid,” he said on X.
“My hip has been bothering me this week and has slowly been getting more painful. Taking the advice from the doctors, we decided it’s best to not play further and make it worse.”
In the women’s draw, Elena Rybakina battled back from 2-5 down in the deciding set and saved two match points to overcome fellow Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 and reach the last four.
A late-match collapse from Putintseva, who smashed her racket and left it on court after the match, helped Rybakina advance to her sixth semi-final of the season, where she faced defending champion Aryna Sabalenka on May 2.
Their match started after press time.
Australian Open champion Sabalenka picked up a 10th consecutive victory in Madrid with a 6-1, 6-4 win against 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva.
In the earlier semi-final, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek cruised through to a second straight Madrid final with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Madison Keys.
Dominant on clay, the Pole, 22, barely put a foot wrong, making just eight unforced errors in the match to leave the 29-year-old American, seeded 18th, with virtually no chance. REUTERS, AFP
