Alexander Bublik became the first man to reach this year’s Mutua Madrid Open quarter-finals on Thursday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Aslan Karatsev.
The World No. 44 saved seven of the eight break points he faced to overcome the Belgrade runner-up after 74 minutes. Bublik is through to his second ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final of the season, following his run to the last eight at last month’s Miami Open presented by Itau.
Bublik has joined Karatsev on 19 wins this season. Alongside Jannik Sinner, the pair is currently tied in third position on the 2021 ATP Tour wins leaderboard.
2021 ATP Tour Wins Leaderboard
Karatsev was aiming to reach his first Masters 1000 quarter-final and become the third player to reach 20 wins this year. The Russian defeated Ugo Humbert and seventh seed Diego Schwartzman en route to the third round.
Bublik will face Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals. The Norwegian defeated Monte-Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(4), 6-4 to reach his third straight clay-court Masters 1000 quarter-final. Ruud won his only previous ATP Head2Head encounter against Bublik at the 2019 St. Petersburg Open in three sets.
The World No. 44 saved seven of the eight break points he faced to overcome the Belgrade runner-up after 74 minutes. Bublik is through to his second ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final of the season, following his run to the last eight at last month’s Miami Open presented by Itau.
Bublik has joined Karatsev on 19 wins this season. Alongside Jannik Sinner, the pair is currently tied in third position on the 2021 ATP Tour wins leaderboard.
2021 ATP Tour Wins Leaderboard
| Rank | Player | Wins |
| T1 | Stefanos Tsitsipas | 27 |
| Andrey Rublev | 27 | |
| T3 | Alexander Bublik | 19 |
| Aslan Karatsev | 19 | |
| Jannik Sinner | 19 |
Karatsev was aiming to reach his first Masters 1000 quarter-final and become the third player to reach 20 wins this year. The Russian defeated Ugo Humbert and seventh seed Diego Schwartzman en route to the third round.
Bublik will face Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals. The Norwegian defeated Monte-Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(4), 6-4 to reach his third straight clay-court Masters 1000 quarter-final. Ruud won his only previous ATP Head2Head encounter against Bublik at the 2019 St. Petersburg Open in three sets.