ATP1000 Madrid Open

The situation is that the series start today with the qualifiation rounds - two rounds being played to identify the 12 qualifiers to be included in the  main draw.     

The actual main draw will be done today and I will then submit the full draw by this evening.

In the meantime it was announced that Djokovic has withdrawn from the Madrid Open.   He did not do at all that well in Monte Carlo and did not play last week either so the talk amongst the commentators is that he is bowing out and possibly near to retirement.    He won in paris alst year and if he loses that one h e si likely to play at Wimbledon and if he does not make the final that would mean he is going to do what Nadal did this year and have a few farewell matches in 2025.   Would be sad to see him gone from the scene though.    .            

Seeded Players 

I     Jannik Sinner

2     Carlos Alcaraz

3     Danill Medvedev

4      Alexander Zverev

5      Casper Ruud

6      Stefanos Tsitsipas

7      Andrey Ruklev

8     Huibert Hurkacz

9     Grigor Dimitrov

10    Alex de Minaur

11    Holger Rune

12     Taylor Fritz

13    Ugo Humbert

14     Ben Shelton

15    Tommy Paul

16    Karen Khachanov

17    Alexander Bublik

18    Sebastian Baez

19    Adxrian Mannarino

20     Francs Tiafoe

21     Francisco Cerundolo

 22    Nicolas Jarry

23     jan-Lennard  Struff

24     Tallon Griekspoor 

25     Sebastian Korda

26    Tomas Manual Etcheverrfy

27    Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

28     Lorenzo Musetti

29     Cameron Norrie

30     Jiri Helecka                

31     Arthur Fils

32     Jordan Thompson

With Round 1 complted the seeds are in disarray with the seeds losing -

*    Top of th Draw       =     7 seeds lost; and remaining  seeds are 9 

*    Bottom of the Draw   *    3 seeds lost. and remaining seeds are 13

In Round 2 at least 9 seeds are going to be eliminated since they play other seeded players.

ROUND 2/3

Top Half of the Draw

1      Jannik Sinner                           vs       16     Karen Khachanov

5      Casper Ruud                            vs       Felix Auger-Aliassime

3      Dannil Medvedev                    vs        17    Alexander Bublik

30     Jiri Lehecka                            vs        Rafael Nadal

Bottom Half of the Draw              

8     Hubert Hurkacz                        vs       12     Taylor Fritz

4     Alexander Zverev                     vs       21      Francisco Cerundolo

7     Andrey Rublev                          vs        24     Tallon Griekspoor

2     Carlos Alcaraz                           vs        23      Jan-Lennard Struff          

QUARTERFINALS

Top Half of the Draw

1      Jannik Sinner                                       vs        Felix Auger-Aliassime

3      Dannil Medvedev                                vs        30    Jiri Lehecka

Bottom Half of the Draw              

12   Taylor Fritz                                           vs       21    Francisco Cerundolo

2     Carlos Alcaraz                                      vs        7    Andrey Rublev

SEMIFINALS

30    Jiri Lehecka                        vs         Felix Auger-Aliassime

7      Andrey Rublev                   vs         12     Taylor Fritz

Sinner gave Auger-Aliassime a walkover into the semi-finals and the remaining semi-final spot will be determined in the match between Medvedev and  Helecka,   Watching the matches playe th uis far I decided to take to bets using the money I won yesterday when I put a bet on Rublev beating  Alcaraz on t he following  two players:-

*    Based on performances thus far  in this tournament   Helecka beating Medvedev in the last remaining quarterfinal match; and

*     Rublev winning the final in the tournament.

FINAL

7      Andrey Rublev                vs         Felix Auger-Aliassime

Tournament winner          -       Andrey Rublev

Congrats to Andrey.   In view of his recent form this was un foreseen.   

Comments 

Before the tournaments started there were discussions by experts as to who would be in final of this tournament.    Theu referred tp [posibl winners  but when Rublev's name wqas mentioned the concession was that after his psychological collapse in the Dubai Open, he never got past Round 2 in any tournament he played in  =- his ranking points went down from around 5 100  to 3 800 ranking points and from being  ranked 5 he was ranked at 8 in ranking.   So the experts foresaw a futher drop in performances - so no Rublev was menioned as a finalist.

In the case of  Auger-Aliassime he was at the start of te tournament ranked 35 .in the world and not even included in the seedings - so obviosuly not even anywhere near final  material and not on of the ecxperts even mentioned him.

So how did the two got to the fiaal:

Rublev

Surprize - surprize Rublev somehow managed to survive Round 2 by beating Bagnis 2.0, followed by beating in two sets Davidovich Fokina (seed 27) in Round 3 and Grielspoor (seeded 24) in Round 4.

His quarterinal game was against Alcaraz - whom he beat in 3 sets,   During the match Alcaraz kept touching and pressing his fore-arm below the elbow and he seemed to be off his game as a result - but Rublev beat him with relative ease in the last two sets of the match, 

After beating Alcaraz - I took a bet that the ultimate winner of the tournament would be Rublev and am now in a good space to win that bet.   He  seemed to be out of the psychological dandrums  he was in.    He beated Fritz with ease in 2 sets in the semi-final.

After the latter match Rublev said he was calm from the start of the tounament and when asked he said he cannot guarantee that that situation would prevail in the longer stage,  

Auger-Aliassime        

In Round 1 Auger-Aliassime bated in 2 sets Mannarino (seeded 18) in the tournament.  Mannarino normally make ranking  points in ATP 250 and Challeger level tournaments where against weaker opposition he does well and earn sufficient ranking points to stay higher than expected in rankings.

In Round 2 he played the most promsising 18 year old on tour.   The match was never completed - since Mensik was injured in his Round 1 match and was favored to beat Auger-Aliassime in Round 2 - but as a result of injury the match was never completed.

In Round 3   he beated Ruud quite surrisingly in 2 sets - the only really challenging player he faced.   In the quarterfinals he got a walkover from  Sinner - who did not play due to injury.    

In the semi Heleska was leading 3-2 when he got injured and forced to retire - giving Auger-Aliassime a final opportunity.   

So in essense without a diabolical injury situation Auger-Aliassime won only in two matches and ended up in the fianl.   Two matches was never complted due to retirement as a result of injury by the two opponents and he benefitted from one walkover,   

I hope for Rublev's sake  that he wins in this tournament,  

Rublev struggled to beat Auger-Aliassime in three sets and afterwards it came out that during the last week of the tournament he got a virus a throat ache and  a temperature of 39 degrees.   The doctors somehow managed to treat him and get rid of the temperature and throat ache - but the situation obviously had an impact on his performances and shows the grit he displayed in winning in the final of the tournament.