The recent Madrid Masters final saw Andrey Rublev beat Felix Auger-Aliassime, but neither player lasted long in Rome.
Both Rublev and Auger-Aliassime crashed out of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Monday, losing respective third-round matches against Alexandre Muller and Alex de Minaur. The Russian fell to Muller 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, while the Canadian also played a tough three-setter and succumbed to De Minaur 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4 after exactly three hours of play.
“It’s amazing,” Muller assured. “I didn’t expect to win against Andrey today. I knew I had my chance, but it is special to win against a top-10 player–my first win against a top 10-player today, so I’m very happy.”
The 27-year-old Frenchman snapped what had been a seven-match winning streak for Rublev.
De Minaur gave back a break early in the third set against Auger-Aliassime, but he regained the advantage at 4-4 thanks to a double-fault on break point. The Aussie served out the match one game later.
“I think Felix is a very good player on the clay,” De Minaur assessed. “He had a lot of confidence coming in, so I’m very happy how I stayed in the match at all stages. I was positive, no matter what came my way. I could have had a double break in the third to maybe secure the match. I didn’t get it, ended up getting broken, and I managed to compose myself so I’m very happy with that.”
Next up for the world No. 11 on Tuesday is Stefanos Tsitsipas, who knocked of Cameron Norrie in straight sets.
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nice one, Demon