Holger Rune fought off a brilliant serving display from Alexander Bublik to continue his impressive start to the clay season on Friday and make a winning debut at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Dane opened his campaign at the ATP Masters 1000 with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(9) victory, converting on his fifth match point to claim his second final-set tie-break in as many matches.

Rune saved a match point at 7/8 in the tie-break and clinched victory with a second-serve ace after Bublik missed when going for a big second serve at 9/9. He also saved four match points against Botic van de Zandschulp in Sunday’s Munich final.

“Honestly I’m out of words right now. It was such a tough match,” Rune said after the gutsy win in Madrid. “In these kind of conditions, it’s altitude, it’s very fast compared to what I’ve played so far.

“Bublik, we all know how he’s playing. He’s playing super aggressive, taking the ball aggressive and early. So I had to really dig deep and find solutions. I was brave at the end and that’s what made the difference.”

The result extended Rune’s winning streak to five matches after his successful Munich title defence last week; the 19-year-old (who turns 20 on Saturday) is 8-1 on clay this month dating back to his run to the Monte-Carlo final. His Monte-Carlo success lifted him to a career high of No. 7 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, a position he has maintained since then.

After improving to 9-1 in opening matches this season, he will next face 29th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who beat fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 6-4 earlier on Friday.

After using his all-court game to dominate the opening set, Rune was dragged into a big-serving shootout with the Kazakh. There was just one break point across the final two sets, with Bublik taking it early in second set.

“I just had to focus on myself, try to do everything I can because when he puts those serves in, it’s just too good sometimes,” Rune said after scoring his first ATP Head2Head win against Bublik.

Short points were the standard for much of the match, but two highlight-reel exchanges came in the final game as Bublik held to force a decisive tie-break. After Rune showcased his touch with a devilish drop shot in reply to a drop shot from his opponent, Bublik won a 23-ball rally on game point, following another drop shot with a volleyed lob to leave the Dane stranded.

Rune nearly wrapped up the tie-break on his second match point at 6/5, but was denied by a brilliant pickup volley. A few points after erasing Bublik’s match point with a big serve, forehand and overhead, the Dane used a kick serve out wide on the ad-court to seal the win. He finished with 34 winners and 12 unforced errors in the two-hour, four-minute match.

With his defeat, Bublik drops to 5-15 on the 2023 season – though his performances in two Madrid three-setters will give him belief for the rest of the clay-court season.

“One, two, three…”

After a coin toss gone awry, Andrey Rublev and Stan Wawrinka found a fun way to replace the pre-match ritual and decide who would call the first serve in their Mutua Madrid Open second-round match on Friday afternoon.

Rublev suggested a game of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ at the net on Manolo Santana Stadium after confusion about the options on the electronically generated coin toss. With ATP Chair Umpire Mohamed Lahyani laughing along with the players, Wawrinka’s ‘Scissors’ cut through Rublev’s ‘Paper’ and the Swiss star opted to serve.

Rublev recovered from his ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ defeat in style. The World No. 6, who is chasing his second ATP Masters 1000 title after his triumph in Monte-Carlo 12 days ago, went on to defeat Wawrinka 7-5, 6-4.

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz survived a major scare at the Mutua Madrid Open Friday when he moved past Emil Ruusuvuori 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the third round in the Spanish capital.

“It was really tough. I would say I was about to lose,” Alcaraz said. “It was just one point. One of the break points he had at 2-3 in the second set was like a match point for him. I was really happy I was able to save that game and come back a bit. It was really tough. Emil played unbelievably, but I am really, really happy to get through that.”

The Spaniard defeated Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev en route to the title in Madrid last year, but didn’t have things all his own way against the clean-hitting Finn in his opening match at this year’s event.

After losing the first set, the 19-year-old dug deep in the second set, saving all five break points he faced before levelling the match. Roared on by a vocal home crowd inside Manolo Santana Stadium, Alcaraz raised his level in the third set. He reduced errors, used the drop shot effectively and demonstrated incredible agility to produce moments of magic and triumph after two hours and 16 minutes.

“When I got it to 3-3 in the second set, I thought that this is my chance,” Alcaraz said. “I tried to take that. I was really, really focused. I was trying to put every ball in and running for every ball. Playing with a good attitude the whole match, I was able to come back.”

With his 24th tour-level win of the season, Alcaraz improved to 1-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against Ruusuvuori, avenging his defeat to the 24-year-old in Miami in 2021. Alcaraz will next face Grigor Dimitrov at the clay-court event.

2023 Infosys ATP Stats Match-Win Leaders

“It was tough for me to get used to the conditions,” Alcaraz said. “There is so much altitude here, the ball bounces a lot. I am not going to use excuses. Emil was better than me until 3-3 in the second set. Hitting the ball with no mistakes, serving well with a lot of rhythm and I could not follow his rhythm. It was tough for me to stay with him. But I am happy to come back and finish with a lot of confidence.”

Alcaraz is chasing his 10th tour-level title and fourth ATP Masters 1000 crown this fortnight. Earlier this year he triumphed on clay in Buenos Aires and Barcelona, while he won the title on hard in Indian Wells.

The top seed can also boost his World No. 1 hopes with a deep run in Madrid. If Alcaraz successfully defends his title he is guaranteed to pass Djokovic in top spot on 22 May just by playing his first match at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, regardless of how Djokovic performs there.

Ruusuvuori, who was making his Madrid debut, was aiming to earn his third Top 10 win. The World No. 41 produced relentless and aggressive tennis throughout large periods of the clash, but was unable to maintain his level at crucial moments. He leaves Madrid 14-12 on the season.

Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov made a winning start at the Mutua Madrid Open Friday when they defeated last year’s finalists Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-6(5), 7-6(2) to reach the second round.

Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov, who reached the quarter-finals together in Miami earlier this season, remained patient throughout the one-hour, 53-minute clash. The Canadians squandered all 10 break points they earned but raised their level in both tie-breaks to advance. They will next meet sixth seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara.

Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe triumphed in the Top-20 singles battle on Friday when they clawed past Cameron Norrie and Tommy Paul 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 to reach the second round.

In a highly-anticipated doubles clash, it was the Americans Fritz and Tiafoe who held their nerve. The pair won 85 per cent (28/33) of their first-service points and rallied from 6/7 in the Match Tie-break to advance after 85 minutes at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Teaming for the first time this week, Fritz and Tiafoe will next face Greek wild cards Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas or fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer.

The 2021 finalists Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic also advanced, defeating Sebastian Baez and Australian Open doubles champion Jason Kubler 6-3, 5-7, 10-6.

The ATP has announced Tour-wide adoption of Electronic Line Calling Live (ELC Live) from 2025. The advanced officiating technology covers all court lines for ‘out’ calls throughout matches, a role traditionally carried out by on-court line judges.

This significant officiating update follows several seasons during which a combination of ELC Live, ELC Review and on-court line judges has been used at ATP Tour events. The move is set to optimise accuracy and consistency across tournaments, match courts and surfaces, for players competing in both main draw and qualifying events. The decision was supported by extensive research conducted by ATP across tennis stakeholders, including fans, which identified accuracy and consistency as the most important factors in assessing different line-calling systems.

All-court ELC Live coverage will also deliver comprehensive player and ball tracking across the whole Tour, leading to an unprecedented level of data for player-performance analysis and the development of new statistics in the game in collaboration with Tennis Data Innovations (TDI), in addition to future commercialisation opportunities.

Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman, said: “This is a landmark moment for our sport, and not one we’ve reached without careful consideration. Tradition is core to tennis and line judges have played an important part in the game over the years. That said, we have a responsibility to embrace innovation and new technologies. Our sport deserves the most accurate form of officiating and we’re delighted to be able to deliver this across our whole Tour from 2025.”

ELC Live was first trialled at the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2017 in Milan as part of a raft of ambitious technological innovations, several of which have gone on to be implemented on the main Tour. In recent years, the system has been available for tournaments on a voluntary basis, becoming widely adopted since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Multiple suppliers are currently approved to provide ELC Live technology on hard court and on grass, while final testing is underway for clay. It is anticipated that multiple different suppliers will be approved across the various court surfaces from 2025.

It has been some six months for Matteo Arnaldi, and it all started in Milan.

The 22-year-old Italian, who stunned World No. 4 Casper Ruud in straight sets on Friday at the Mutua Madrid Open, enjoyed his first taste of the big time at last November’s Next Gen ATP Finals. Then ranked No. 134 with a 0-1 record at Tour level, Arnaldi credits his experience at the season-ending 21-and-under event as invaluable preparation for more regular appearances on the ATP Tour.

“For us Italians it was crazy, because from the first match it was unbelievable,” Arnaldi told ATPTour.com this week in Madrid. “Everyone was cheering for you. It kind of prepared me for the big stage.”

Arnaldi lost all three of his matches in Milan but he pushed Top 50 star and eventual champion Brandon Nakashima to five sets, a sign of his potential to go toe-to-toe with more established opponents. That was made even clearer against Ruud on Friday in Madrid, where the World No. 105 held his nerve to notch the biggest win of his career and reach the third round of an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time.

“I just tried to go on court and play my best tennis, and I think I did today,” said Arnaldi after the match. “Now I really don’t know what to say. I’m just trying to enjoy this moment and tomorrow it’s another day and I will try to prepare for the next match.

“For sure he [Ruud] didn’t play his best tennis, but when you come from [lower] down the rankings, they don’t know you. They maybe don’t know what you do well or what you don’t do well. I’m just happy.”

The period between Milan and Madrid saw Arnaldi lift his second and third ATP Challenger Tour titles, respectively, but it has also been a time of great discovery for the Italian at Tour level. As a qualifier, he made his debut at the Australian Open and five ATP Tour events, including the Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami, prior to arriving in Madrid this week.

“I really liked my trip from Doha and Dubai to Indian Wells, Phoenix and Miami,” said Arnaldi. “It was my first very long trip, but the experience helped me a lot to play good matches at a high level and for so many weeks in a row.”

Despite falling short in five of his six qualification attempts, Arnaldi played Daniil Medvedev as a lucky loser in the first round in February in Dubai. Last week at the ATP 500 in Barcelona, he reached the second round as a qualifier after notching his maiden tour-level win against Jaume Munar.

“Everything is new. Every tournament I experience new things,” said Arnaldi. “I’m happy to play with [Ruud] and to have the opportunity to play on a big court like Arantxa Sanchez Stadium. I’ve played on the centre court in Dubai, the third court in Indian Wells.

“[Playing in] the biggest stadiums in every tournament is helping me to step on court more relaxed in the match. I think this year for me is the experience year, to be able to play my best tennis maybe next year.”

Arnaldi may not have to wait that long to make a further mark on the ATP Tour, however. His win against Ruud on Friday, which propelled him to No. 96 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, ensured he will break the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time on 8 May. Before then, he has a third-round clash against home favourite Munar to look forward to in Madrid.

“It’s crazy,” said Arnaldi, when asked about reaching the Top 100. “It was one of my goals for this year, so if in April we achieved that, it’s good. It means that we are working the right way and I will try to continue like this.”

Andrey Rublev continued his red-hot clay-court form on Friday at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he defeated former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 6-4 to reach the third round.

The fifth seed clinched his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo earlier this month before he advanced to the final in Banja Luka. With his one-hour, 19-minute win against Wawrinka, Rublev improved to 9-1 on clay this season.

Competing inside Manolo Santana Stadium, Rublev struck the ball with relentless power off the forehand wing to dictate. He earned the decisive break of the first set in the 11th game, before he rallied from 0-2 in the second set, serving out the match at the second time of asking to improve to 2-2 in his ATP Head2Head series against 2014 finalist Wawrinka.

“I am happy I am into the next round,” Rublev said. “When I saw the draw I thought that it was amazing being the fifth seed and having Wawrinka in the opening round. When I was World No. 40, I sometimes had a [much] easier draw. I was thinking ‘OK, maybe I would go home early’. In the last meeting, he beat me, so I was thinking to focus and see what would happen but I was able to win today and I feel great.”

Rublev, currently fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, will next meet Yoshihito Nishioka after the 28th seed defeated Alex Molcan 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

Rublev is chasing his 14th tour-level title this fortnight in Madrid. The 25-year-old has captured four of his crowns on clay, including this month’s triumph in Monte-Carlo.

Swiss Wawrinka moved past Maxime Cressy in the first round to reach the second round in Madrid for the 11th time. The 38-year-old, who was competing in the Spanish capital for the first time since 2019, has lifted seven tour-level trophies on clay, including Roland Garros in 2015.

In other action, German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann continued his dream run when he upset 15th-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 7-6(3). Daniel Altmaier will be Hanfmann’s next opponent after the German downed countryman Oscar Otte 6-4, 7-5.

Matteo Arnaldi earned his first Top 10 win on Friday when he stunned World No. 4 Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round at the Mutua Madrid Open.

The Italian qualifier saved one match point to earn his first ATP Masters 1000 win against Benoit Paire in the first round and backed that up by producing a free-hitting performance against Ruud. He struck 35 winners and hit with great depth to consistently push Ruud back and inflict a ninth defeat of the season on the Norwegian.

“I don’t know what to say. In Barcelona I was playing very good,” said Arnaldi, who came through qualifying to reach the second round at the ATP 500 last week. “But coming here it is different. The ball bounces so high and I didn’t like it at first. I struggled a bit. But today, I don’t know, maybe the stadium, maybe the pressure on him, but I played the best match of my life.”

The 22-year-old, who competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals last season, is up eight spots to No. 97 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his third tour-level win of the year. Arnaldi reached a career-high No. 102 earlier this month after he won his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the year in Spain.

Arnaldi will look to continue his dream run against Jaume Munar. The Spaniard advanced after Tallon Griekspoor was forced to retire after Munar had clinched the first set 7-6(3).

Ruud captured his 10th tour-level title in Estoril earlier this month but has struggled to find his best form in 2023. The 24-year-old has failed to advance beyond the third round at the four ATP Masters 1000 events he has played and suffered a second-round exit at the Australian Open.