Of the big names, Carlos Alcaraz and Andrey Rublev won, while Holger Rune was eliminated on Sunday.
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Bad signal less than a month before Roland-Garros. After three rounds played in the main draw of the Madrid tournament, there are no more French players among men and women players. Ugo Humbert and Caroline Garcia, the last French players to enter, were eliminated on Sunday 28 April. Holger Rune also lost in the third round, while Carlos Alcaraz and Andrey Rublev qualified for the rest of the tournament. In the women’s category, Elena Rybakina easily eliminated the Egyptian Mayar Sherif (6-1, 6-4).
Missed appointment for Humbert
Interruption for Ugo Humbert. The fourteenth player in the world left the Masters 1000 in Madrid in the third round, attacked by strong shots from Jan-Lennard Struff (7-5, 6-4), ten places behind him. The 34-year-old German, a Madrid 2023 finalist, has been confident since winning the first tournament of his career two weeks ago in Munich.
Eye-catching in the first set, the 13th seed dropped his serve after Jan-Lennard Struff’s second break point. In the second set, the Frenchman gave up from the first cross, and his opponent’s precision prevented him from getting any closer. His service games went by without getting the slightest break point. Ugo Humbert misses the chance to face Carlos Alcaraz in the next round and extend a good start to the year crowned with two titles, in Marseille and Dubai, and 14th place in the world rankings.
Caroline Garcia did not make weight
Jasmine Paolini, the 12th seed, dominated from start to finish, Caroline Garcia lost in the third round (6-3, 6-2). Winner of the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai this season, the highly explosive Italian made a strong impression by putting the Frenchwoman under constant pressure in her forehands and winning her service games quite easily. Caroline Garcia, guilty of too many unforced errors, is not full of confidence before Rome, in which she never shone, and Roland-Garros. Jasmine Paolini will play in the round of 16 against the young Mirra Andreeva (16 years old, 43).
Carlos Alcaraz finds his direction
Withdrawing from Monte-Carlo and Barcelona due to a forearm injury, Carlos Alcaraz is safe for the start of the tournament in Madrid. As in the first round against Alexander Shevchenko (6-2, 6-1), the two-time title holder, who wears a compression sleeve on his right arm, won against the Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild (6-3, 6-3) without much difficulty. In the round of 16, he will meet with Jan-Lennard Struff, for a replay of the last final in Madrid.
Holger Rune goes along the way
Another disappointment for the Dane. A week after he was defeated by Jan-Lennard Struff (6-2, 6-0) in the semifinals of Munich (Germany), he lost to Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, the 24th seed, in the third round in Madrid (6-4, 4- 6, 6-3). Outside the world top 10 (12th) since mid-April, Holger Rune has been chasing a title for a year and will need to raise his level to defend his points in Rome, where he reached the final last year, and at Roland Garros, where he reached the quarterfinals .