Time flies, and a new week has quietly come to each of us. This week 2025 officially enters the summer. The fiery sun and rain will be the theme of this season. In this season, people who are still working hard should be respected. Here, on behalf of the editor-in-chief of "Tennis House", allow me to say to you that you have worked hard. In the hot summer, remember to prevent heatstroke.
In the early hours of this morning, the Madrid Masters came to an end. However, at this Masters, the unthinkable also happened. That is, among the top eight seeds, only Britain's Draper reached the final. None of the top eight seeds made it to the quarterfinals. So, what's going on here? Let the humble text take you to see it.
Second seed Spain's Alcaraz had to withdraw from the Madrid Masters due to injuries caused by the last few days of competition, leaving him back in the third place after only rising to world No. 2. Serbian king Djokovic, who has won three Grand Slams and double laps, was swept out of the tournament by Italian teenager Arnaldi in the second round and returned home early. It was also in this round that Denmark's Rune, who had reached the final of the Masters not long ago, announced his retirement after being taken first by his opponent and left early.
Seventh seed Rublev of Russia had a first-round bye and advanced to the third round in the second round due to the absence of a fight from French veteran Monfils. However, the good fortune did not continue, and in the third round, against former ATP 500 champion Bublik of Kazakhstan, despite the unfavorable situation of dropping the first set, Rublev still lost to his opponent, and his record did not improve at all after working with Safin. Exactly when Rublev will be able to regain his form is probably still a mystery.
Germany's Zverev, the top seed who has won the Masters, the Olympics and the year-end finals, defeated Spain's Agut and Fokina in quick succession to reach the fourth round. It's a pity that in the duel with Argentine brother Cerundolo, he was defeated by his opponent in straight sets and unfortunately went out. It is worth mentioning that in the clash between the two, Zverev Jr. has not tasted victory. From this point of view, it is probably not an exaggeration to say that Cerundolo is his nemesis.
American Fritz, who has enjoyed both the Masters and the Grand Slam tournaments, is the third seed at the Madrid Masters, beating Australia's O'Connell and France's Bonzi to reach the fourth round. It should be noted that in the process of winning over Bonzi, Fritz dropped a set first and was in danger at one point. After pulling back the set, Bonzi had to withdraw from the match due to physical reasons, and objectively speaking, Fritz was a bit of a winner. In the fourth round of the match with the Norwegian star Ruud, he was defeated by his opponent in straight sets and failed to continue his own pace.
Australia's De Minaur, who has already reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, has had a poor record at the Madrid Masters, and this time he beat Italy's Sonego and Canada's Shapovalov to reach the fourth round. Despite losing to Italy's Musetti, this is already his best record at the Madrid Masters.
In this way, among the top eight seeds, only Britain's Draper reached the final, but was defeated by Ruud in the final and missed the championship. Hopefully, in the next tournaments, these players will have a good record, so let's wait and see.(Source: Tennis Home Author: Yixin Jushi)