Madrid Open: Khachanov overcomes Rublev to seal quarterfinal berth; Swiatek advances

Madrid (Spain): Karen Khachanov kept his cool and beat Andrey Rublev 7-6(8), 6-4 in the fourth-round clash to seal a quarterfinal berth at the Madrid Open, here on Tuesday.

The 10th-seeded Khachanov took control of a closely fought encounter by rallying from 4/6 to claim the first-set tie-break and he carried that momentum to a one-hour, 42-minute victory on Manolo Santana Stadium.

“It’s always tricky to play against each other because on one side we know each other’s games perfectly because we’ve been training together for so many years,” Khachanov was quoted as saying by ATP Tour.

“At the same time, we know what to expect, but also of course a bit nervous to play against each other. We are good friends, but on the court we are rivals. It was all a matter of keeping the serve, and if you have any chances on the return, go for it. That’s what I did,” he added.

Khachanov saved the only break point he faced and won 80 per cent (35/44) of points behind first serves to take a 3-2 lead in his ATP head-to-head series with Rublev.

The pair also met in Monte Carlo three weeks ago, when Rublev prevailed en route to lifting his maiden Masters 1000 crown.

With his Madrid win, Khachanov moved to 19-0 in matches when he won the first set in 2023. The 26-year-old will take on defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or 13th seed Alexander Zverev next at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 as he attempts to reach his third tour-level semi-final of the year.

Despite his Madrid campaign coming to an end, the World No. 6 Rublev is still in the hunt for a trophy at the Caja Magica. He and Khachanov are set to take on Jamie Murray and Michael Venus in the quarterfinals of the doubles.

Women’s world No. 1 Iga Swiatek dropped her first set of the tournament before securing a 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3 win over 16th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova. She will be making her first quarterfinal appearance in Madrid against 27th-seeded Petra Martic, who advanced past 11th-seeded Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 7-6 (1).

Swiatek is the first player to reach the quarterfinals or better at eight consecutive clay-court tournaments since Simona Halep made it to 10 in a row between 2016 and 2019.

Third-seeded American Jessica Pegula, last year’s runner-up in Madrid, reached the last eight by beating Martina Trevisan 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka advanced after ending Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva’s impressive run at the tournament.

After three straight-set victories against top-40 opponents in her main-draw debut, the 16-year-old wildcard entry lost 6-3, 6-1 to Sabalenka in her first center-court appearance in Madrid.

Andreeva became the youngest player to reach the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event after upsetting 2021 U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in the first round, 14th-ranked Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second and 19th-ranked Magda Linette in the third. She won 16 straight matches at all levels before falling to Sabalenka, her first Top 10 opponent.