For the Russian top seeds at the Madrid Open tennis event, Danil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, who both lost in the Round of 16 in straight sets, the Tuesday morning session was not a nice one.
In Madrid, where he had never previously advanced past the second round and where he had never been happy on clay, Medvedev's advancement to the round of 16 was his best-ever performance.
He was defeated by fellow countryman Aslan Karatsev 7-6(1), 6-4, who seems to be regaining his form after a slump in performances saw him to drop from No. 14 in 2022 to his current level of 121.
Rublev lost to Karen Khachanov, a fellow Russian player, 7-6(8), 6-4, thus his fall wasn't as shocking.
The 10th seed defeated a top-10 opponent for the first time since 2019 and advances to face the winner of the match between local favourite Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev.
Aryna Sabalenka, the number two seed in the women's competition, overcame a hiccup in the second set to defeat Egypt's Mayar Sherif in three sets, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.
