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.
nice one, Demon