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Russia’s Rublev advances at 2024 ATP Madrid Open tennis tournament

In the next round, 7th-seed Andrey Rublev will face 27th-seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev advanced to Round 3 of the 2024 ATP Madrid Open after defeating Facundo Bagnis from Argentina on Friday.

The Russian tennis player snapped a four-match losing streak on the ATP, taking down his Argentinian opponent in straight sets 6-1; 6-4.

"It feels really great after a while to start with a win and I’m happy with my performance," the tournament’s official website quoted Rublev as saying after his win over Spain’s Bagnis.

"I think I played a good match, for the first round especially being in completely different conditions compared to other tournaments, and I played a good level," he said.

"This week I started to feel that I’m more relaxed," Rublev stated. "I was practicing well and the mood was different since I arrived here. That’s why I had the feeling I should win one match at least."

In the next round, 7th-seed Rublev will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain (27th-seed), who later in the day defeated Chinese star Shang Juncheng 7-5, 6-3.

Rublev, 26, is ranked 8th in the ATP World Rankings and has won 15 ATP tournament titles. He has also appeared in numerous Grand Slam tournaments, albeit never advancing beyond the quarterfinals. Rublev took home the gold at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in mixed doubles (with teammate Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova) and also won the 2021 Davis Cup as part of the Russian national team.

The 2023 Madrid Open is being played on outdoor clay courts from April 8-14 and offers $963,200 in prize money.

Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.

On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

However, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.

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