Ill Rublev heads back to hospital after prevailing in Madrid Open

Andrey Rublev battled through a suspected virus and an anaesthetised foot to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6 7-5 7-5 to claim the Madrid Open title on Sunday, but revealed he would now have to return to hospital to make a full recovery.

The 26-year-old Russian, who had struggled with health issues throughout the tournament, recovered from the illness and an opening set wobble to clinch his second Masters 1000 title in just under three hours.

“I’m still sick and [Monday] I think I’ll go back to the hospital for a full check-up to know exactly what’s going on,” Rublev said.

“I’ve been sick for eight or nine days now. It’s not normal, I’m not really getting better, which is strange because usually I get sick for two or three days at the most and maybe a fever, but nothing special.

“This is the first time in my life that I feel this bad.”

The seventh seed said he needed an anaesthetic to play the final.

“They put an anaesthetic [on one of my toes] because somehow it got inflamed and started to get bigger and the pressure started to be on the bone. I can’t even put my shoe on.”

Rublev, who came into the Madrid tournament in poor form having lost his previous four matches on the tour, eliminated second seed and home favourite Carlos Alcaraz and beat American Taylor Fritz to reach the final.

“It is normal to have ups and downs, but my focus now is to keep working and trying to improve.

“I think I showed a great level of tennis from the first match and in the end I was able to win the title.”

“Now I think the most important thing is to try to recover and be ready for Rome,” he said.

Jannik Sinner has cast doubt on his French Open participation, with the world No 2 saying he will only compete at Roland Garros later this month if he fully recovers from a hip issue that forced him out of Madrid and Rome.

Sinner sustained the injury at Madrid and pulled out of his quarterfinal against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime last week, before the Italian decided to skip the Rome tournament, which runs from May 8-19.

The 22-year-old, who claimed his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, said the injury was more serious than initially suspected.

“At Roland Garros, I’ll only play if I’m 100%. If there’s any doubt we have to see,” Sinner said.

Reuters