Bublik Upsets Defending Champion Rublev To Advance In Madrid

Alexander Bublik
Alexander Bublik (photo: ATP Tour video)

MADRID/WASHINGTON, April 27, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

The Mutua Madrid Open has been the most successful ATP Masters 1000 event for Alexander Bublik. In five appearances, he has accumulated nine wins. So, it should come as little or no surprise that the World No. 75 from Kazakhstan upset defending champion and World No. 8 Andrey Rublev on Sunday to advance to round of 16.

Bublik’s 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 victory over the No. 7 seed from Russia, completed in one hour and 22 minutes on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium, lifted him into the last 16 for the third time. It was his 10th career victory against a Top-10 opponent in 33 outings – second on clay – and improved his 2025 win-loss record to 6-10.

It was Bublik’s first ATP Masters 1000 victory since he beat Rublev at Dubai last year – he’s now 3-5 lifetime against the Russian – and it extended his current winning streak to three. Meanwhile, Rublev (11-10 this season) will now drop out of the Top 10 for the first time since September 2022, after 138 weeks. The loss ended a six-match winning streak in Madrid and kept him from reaching the round of 16 in the Spanish capital city for the fifth time in as many appearances.

“I think keeping my serve and breaking up the rhythm as much as I possible could,” the 27-year-old Bublik said, asked by ATP Media during his on-court interview what he thought the most important skill was in bringing today’s victory. “I cannot outplay Andrey. We all know that. He’s an incredible athlete – better than me in aspects.

“I’m the creator. … I’m the artist of certain things. For me, it was important to keep him away from his work ethic and bring in my skills, which worked perfectly this time.”

Bublik struck 33 winners, including 12 aces, won 76 percent of his first-serve points, and converted two of six break points despite being outpointed by Rublev 73-65.

“It’s about being consistent for two-week’s time. … It’s tough but you never know,” Bublik admitted. “I try to enjoy the tennis that I play. For me, the most important thing is to keep playing because I was on the verge of quitting many, many times in my career. For me, if I’m smiling and winning a couple of matches that’s really enough.”

Next, Bublik will face No. 22 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia, who eased past No. 12 seed Ben Shelton of the United States, 6-1, 6-4, in an hour and eight minutes on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium. Mensik dropped just two points on his first serve, faced no break points, broke Shelton four times in nine attempts and outpointed the American No. 3 by a wide margin, 59-43. At 19 years and 6 months, Mensik became the seventh youngest teenager to reach the round of 16 in Madrid.

Mensik has now won eight straight matches at the ATP Masters 1000 level, following his Miami Open title run last month, and Sunday’s win over Shelton improved his 2025 win-loss record to 16-7.

“Today was a good day in the office on my return,” Mensik said during his on-court interview with ATP Media after improving to 2-1 lifetime against Shelton. “I know Ben can serve much better, but in this high altitude, it’s always tough to break him.

“I knew that he was not feeling very well, me neither. But I still tried to reach my best level and that was the key. I’m glad I came out with the win.”

Zverev holds off last Spaniard Davidovich Fokina

World No. 2 and top seed Alexander Zverev took on the last remaining Spaniard in the men’s draw, No. 28 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, in a featured Sunday afternoon match before a very vocal Spanish crowd that filled Manolo Santana Stadium. While Zverev led their head-to-head 4-1, the Spanish No. 2 came in with the opportunity to earn a Top-10 win for the third consecutive week after defeating No. 6 Jack Draper en route to the Monte-Carlo semifinal and No. 8 Andrey Rublev to reach the Barcelona quarterfinals in his last two tournaments.

After the two-time Madrid champion Zverev won the third-round tussle 2-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (0) – recovering after losing the first 10 points on the match, then overcoming being a break down in the second set – it marked the first time in Madrid history that no Spanish man would reach the round of 16. It was also Zverev’s 63rd career ATP Masters 1000 win on clay, which ties him with Thomas Muster and Carlos Moya.

“Obviously, a lot of ups and downs but he was playing fantastically in the first set. I was playing terrible in the first set,” Zverev said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “I was waiting for my chances. I had to keep digging deep. Winning like is obviously great. I’m happy about today.”

Zverev hit 11 aces – 24 winners overall – and won 72 percent of his first-serve points en route to earning his 21st win of the season in 28 outings. He broke Davidovich Fokina twice in 11 tries and was outpointed 100-98. Zverev committed 17 fewer unforced errors (28 to 45) than his opponent.

Zverev shared some kind words with Davidovich Fokina (21-11) at the net. “I said to him that he’s playing the best tennis of his life and big things are coming for him. I’m sure about it. He made the semifinals at Monte-Carlo and I think he’s going to keep having results like this and maybe even better. He’s a fantastic player, who has improved so much since last year. I always thought he was missing maybe a bit too much. Now, he’s playing fast and moving incredibly well. He’s improved his serve, so I have to give him a lot of credit.”

Next, Zverev, who has won seven straight – including last week’s title at Munich – will face No. 20 seed Francisco Cerundolo, who held off  No. 70 Francisco Comesana, 6-4, 6-4, in an all-Argentine battle on Stadium 3 Sunday evening. The 21st-ranked Cerundolo hit 27 winners and saved all four break points he faced. He outpointed Comesana 76-63.

Around the Caja Mágica

• No. 31 seed Brandon Nakashima of the United States advanced to his fifth ATP Masters 1000 fourth round – and first outside of North America – after defeating No. 36 Flavio Cobolli of Italy, 7-5, 6-3, in an hour and 42 minutes on Stadium 3. The 32nd-ranked Nakashima won 57 percent of his second-serve return points, converted three of eight break points and outpointed Cobolli 75-60.

Next, Nakashima will meet No. 9 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia, who needed just 63 minutes to defeat 126th-ranked qualifier Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina, 6-2, 6-2. As Medvedev attempts to continue his quest to complete the set of semifinals at all nine ATP Masters 1000 events and end his title drought since winning his first ATP Tour title on clay at Rome two years ago, the World No. 10 struck 18 winners – 11 of them from his forehand side – and converted four of five break-point chances. He outpointed Cerundolo 55-32 en route to his 15th victory of the season.

• World No. 4 and last year’s semifinalist Taylor Fritz of the United States became the first American man born in the 1990s to earn 300 career victories after advancing by retirement over No. 62 Benjamin Bonzi of France after splitting sets. The Frenchman took the opener 6-4, then Fritz rallied to win the second set 7-5 before Bonzi bowed out of the third-round match after one hour and 36 minutes on Stadium 3. It was their first meeting.

The No. 3 seed Fritz, who was playing in his first clay event of the season after dealing with an abdominal injury, is also the fourth man born in 1997 or later to reach the 300-win plateau, joining Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev. Against Bonzi, he hit six aces, won 76 percent of his first-serve points, converted one of five break points and was outpointed by Bonzi 70-65.

Next, Fritz will face No. 14 seed Casper Ruud of Norway, who defeated No. 23 seed Sebastian Korda of the United States, 6-3, 6-3, in 70 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium Sunday night. Ruud saved four of five break points he faced from Korda, converted four of eight break-point chances and outpointed the American No. 5 62-48.

Sunday’s Mutua Madrid Open results

Monday’s Mutua Madrid Open order of play

By the numbers

Since the start of the 2020 season, Casper Ruud has compiled the most wins on clay on the ATP Tour with 121. Second is Stefanos Tsitsipas with 95 and third is Carlos Alcaraz with 90.

“Quotable …”

“Obviously after you lose a match you don’t feel good, but I’ve had a few of these this year where I lose in the first round, unfortunately,” Djokovic added. “I knew that it was going to be a really tough opening match for me in this tournament. Arnaldi is a really good player, a quality player.

“I didn’t have too many matches on clay. I did practice well, but it’s completely different when you step out on the match court. I think the positive thing is that I really enjoyed myself more than I [did] in Monte-Carlo, so that’s a good thing. But obviously the level of tennis is not where I would like it to be.

“But, that’s the circle of life and the career, eventually it was going to happen.”

– World No. 5 and fourth seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, during his post-match news conference, following his second-round loss to No. 44 Matteo Arnaldi of Italy, 6-3, 6-4, on Saturday.

 

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