The Mutua Madrid Open is approaching the end with unprecedented semi-finalists in its history | ATP Tour

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The Mutua Madrid Open is approaching the end with unprecedented semi-finalists in its history

This Friday Rublev will clash against Fritz and Felix against Lehecka

May 03, 2024

Andrey Rublev is the one with the best ranking (8th) among the Madrid semifinalists.
By ATPTour.com/es Staff

The semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open will feature surprising protagonists. The four, Andrey Rublev, Taylor Fritz, Jiri Lehecka and Felix Auger Aliassime, will be making their debut in this instance this Friday at the Caja Mágica, guaranteed an unprecedented champion in the history of the tournament for the first time since 2022, and for the third time since 2018.

Rublev and Auger Aliassime had already been quarterfinalists in this event in 2022. In that same edition they marked their best result in the second ATP Masters 1000 on clay of the season. This time they took a step forward, leaving Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner (by W/O) behind, respectively, and securing a new personal best in the Spanish capital.

The most surprising cases are those of Fritz and Lehecka. The fourth round had been the American’s best result in the competition before 2024, reaching this stage in 2023. This fortnight he has been intractable, eliminating Sebastián Báez, Hubert Hurkacz and Francisco Cerúndolo in the last three rounds. He will now be looking, on his least favorite surface, for his second ATP Masters 1000 final after being champion in Indian Wells 2022.

Lehecka was much less likely to reach this round considering he had missed Monte Carlo and Barcelona through injury, and had no wins on clay in 2024 before this event. He also had no wins in this event before this fortnight (0-1 record).

But he has knocked out Thiago Monteiro, Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev in the last three rounds to become the first Czech in the ATP Masters 1000 semifinals since Tomas Berdych, one of his current coaches. One more win would see him break into the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings.

He will face Auger-Aliassime, against whom he has a 1-0 record and who will also be seeking his first final at the ATP Masters 1000 level. Both will mark a Madrid semifinal between players outside the Top 20 for the second consecutive year, then of the one disputed in 2023 between Jan-Lennard Struff and Aslan Karatsev.

This duel will be played from 1:00 p.m. (local time), having already known the winner between Fritz and Rublev, a duel of Masters 1000 champions. The American leads the Lexus ATP HeadToHead 5-3 between them. See programming.