Griekspoor claws past Rune in Madrid, Rublev advances

Tallon Griekspoor earned his first Top 20 win on clay Sunday at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he upset World No. 12 Holger Rune 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the fourth round at an ATP Masters 1000 event for just the second time.

The Dutchman, who holds an 11-23 record against Top 20 players overall, crushed the ball off both wings against Rune. Griekspoor struck 25 winners, according to Infosys ATP Stats and closed the net throughout the clash, winning 69 per cent (22/32) of points when moving forward to advance two hours and 14 minutes.

"I think I served unbelievably well throughout the whole match," Griekspoor said. "I had a lot of chances on his serve. I didn't take any of the break points in the second but kept doing my thing. Broke him early in the third, served really well after. I am really happy with the performance today."

So Tallon-ted 🤩

Powerful performance from @Griekii as he takes down Rune 6-4 4-6 6-3 to advance to the round 16 at @MutuaMadridOpen#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/tYeYVvaMmr

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 28, 2024

Griekspoor’s victory against World No. 12 Rune was his second biggest by PIF ATP Ranking this year. The 27-year-old also defeated then-World No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz en route to the semi-finals in Rotterdam in February.

Griekspoor leads Rune 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series and will next play Andrey Rublev. If the two-time tour-level titlist advances to the quarter-finals, it will mark his best result at a Masters 1000 event. The 24th seed also reached the fourth round in Paris last year.

Rune leaves Madrid 18-10 on the season. The 20-year-old Dane was aiming to reach the last 16 in the Spanish capital for the first time.

Rublev continued his return to form with victory against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The World No. 8 arrived in Madrid off the back of a four-match losing streak before he defeated Facundo Bagnis in his opening match in the Spanish capital.

Rublev backed up that win with a 7-6(10), 6-4 triumph against Davidovich Fokina on Manolo Santana Stadium, where he saved five set points in an epic first-set tie-break before he converted on his second opportunity. The 26-year-old then broke Davidovich Fokina's serve twice in the second set to improve to 4-0 in the pair's Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

"Alejandro was making really great points, so I didn't have many chances," Rublev said. "I was mentally down. The first couple of points I was down [in the tie-break], I played like I don't care and managed to win them. Then on my serve I was thinking at least to keep your serve and it might be 4/5 and then you don't know what will happen.

"Then it was 4/5 and the score became more tight and I managed to come back. I started to feel more confidence in the second set and started to feel the game better."

Rublev is seeking his second title of the year this week, having triumphed in Hong Kong. His only previous ATP Masters 1000 trophy run came on clay last year in Monte-Carlo.

In other action, last year’s Madrid finalist Jan-Lennard Struff captured his 50th ATP Masters 1000 victory by downing French No. 1 Ugo Humbert 7-5, 6-4. Struff did not face a break point en route to his one-hour, 38-minute victory.

Struff has won his past six matches, having captured his maiden tour-level title in Munich last week. The 34-year-old, who holds a 10-4 tournament record in Madrid, will play second seed Carlos Alcaraz or Thiago Seyboth Wild in the fourth round.

Huge hitting from the big German 🚀🇩🇪@Struffitennis achieving a high Forehand #ShotQuality in his 3rd Round win vs @HumbertUgo 📈#ShotQuality is calculated in real-time by analysing each shot's speed, spin, depth, width, and the impact it has on the opponent.#TennisInsights… pic.twitter.com/rgxqqNPbeL

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) April 28, 2024