The start of the Italian Open has been blighted by the fallout from the controversy, which came after Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia defeated Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff in Sunday’s final. Rather than addressing the crowd after receiving their trophies, as is traditional, the bemused quartet were directed straight to the podium for photographs.  

“We sincerely apologise to all the players and fans who expect more of the Mutua Madrid Open tournament,” Gerard Tsobanian, the tournament’s CEO, said in a statement. 

“Not giving our women’s doubles finalists the chance to address their fans at the end of the match was unacceptable and we have apologised directly to Victoria, Beatriz, Coco and Jessica. 

“We are working internally and with the WTA to review our protocols and are committed to improving our process moving forward. We made a mistake and this will not ever happen again.”

No explanation was offered for the reasoning behind the decision, which has been widely criticised, not least by Pegula and Gauff. 

Australia’s John Millman, a former world No 33, added his voice to the chorus of disapproval following Tsobanian’s statement, responding on Twitter: “‘Working internally to review protocols’ …It’s pretty simple. Show some proper respect. It’s the very least they deserve.”

The furore marked the culmination of a turbulent 10 days at the Caja Mágica, where accusations of sexism came thick and fast. 

The crop tops and pleated skirts worn by the ball girls were branded discriminatory by Soledad Murillo, Spain’s secretary of state for equality, and were replaced by less revealing outfits for the men’s singles final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jan-Lennard Struff. 

A row also erupted over the disparity in size between birthday cakes the tournament presented to Aryna Sabalenka and Alcaraz. Azarenka retweeted a picture highlighting the difference, writing: “Couldn’t be more accurate on the treatment.”

Whether officials had that in mind when they decided not to invite the doubles finalists to speak is impossible to know, but Azarenka was reportedly unimpressed by the late start to her semi-final match. Iga Swiatek, the World No 1, took aim at the tournament’s scheduling after her defeat to Sabalenka in the women’s final, and it may have been fear of similar barbs that prompted the organisers to pull the plug. 

“What happened in terms of doubles was completely unacceptable,” Azarenka, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Sloane Stephens at the Italian Open, told the Guardian. “There’s a lot of conversations, obviously, internally, of what happened and I want to see how that develops and what are the consequences of those decisions. 

“So that’s why I don’t want to make too many comments. I believe to give people the opportunity to figure out what’s the best course of action. Do I think it’s unacceptable? It’s absolutely unacceptable.”

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Pegula and her partner Coco Gauff, the top seeds, were defeated 6-1, 6-4 by Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia in Sunday’s final, but there was bemusement on the winners’ podium afterwards as it dawned on the players that they would not be afforded the customary opportunity to address the crowd. The participants in the men’s doubles final, played the previous day, were all permitted to speak as normal.

The tournament has yet to offer an explanation for the decision but Pegula, speaking ahead of the Italian Open, alluded to a “a build-up of a lot of tension” over “a variety of different things”. 

“What happened in Madrid, it was really disappointing,” said Pegula, the world No 3. “I know a lot of like what happened, detail leading up to the event, just because [Azarenka] and I are on the players’ council. 

“I had a feeling something was going to happen. Did I think we were not going to be able to speak? No, I’ve never heard of that in my life. Even in a 10K challenger final, you would speak. 

“I don’t know what century everyone was living in when they made that decision, or how they actually had a conversation and decided, like, ‘Wow, this is a great decision we’re going to do, and there’s going to be no-backlash against this.’

“To be honest, it kind of spoke for itself. We were upset when it happened, especially being told during the trophy ceremony we weren’t going to be allowed to speak. We were like, ‘Well, I guess this just kind of proves a point.’ We didn’t really do anything, and here we are.”

The furore marked another flashpoint at a tournament mired in controversy from the outset. The outfits worn by ball girls at the event, consisting of crop tops and light, pleated skirts, were condemned by Spain’s Association for Women in Professional Sport as “a form of sexist violence”, and there was further unrest when players highlighted the size disparity between birthday cakes presented to the eventual champions, Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz, on social media. 

The latter situation was directly addressed by the tournament director, former men’s world No 12 Feliciano Lopez, who offered a forthright response to Azarenka when she tweeted a picture of the two cakes side by side, commenting: “Couldn’t be more right on the treatment.”

“I’m surprised by this reaction after this gesture!” wrote Lopez. “1. Carlos had just won his match to reach the final. 2. He was playing on centre court. 3. The tournament is played in Spain, even though it is an international event.”

Neither Pegula nor Gauff, who likewise said it was “not the right decision” to silence the players, offered any detail on the background to the situation. 

“I was told it was a situation that didn’t involve me that happened,” said Gauff. “I’m not going to go into that situation. People probably know what it was, but that’s what I was told. I said that situation, for me, was not deep enough to not have a trophy ceremony. We worked hard to get to that final.”

The tournament has so far declined to comment on the reasons for the decision. There was a tinderbox moment after Saturday’s women’s singles final, however, when Iga Swiatek called out organisers over the late-night scheduling of her semi-final against Veronika Kudermetova. 

“It’s not fun to play at 1am,” said Swiatek, the world No 1, after coming out on the wrong end of an absorbing three-set struggle against Sabalenka. “I’m happy anyway that I was able to get past this experience, and survive and be in the final.”

Lopez, standing a few feet away, looked daggers at the Pole as she spoke, and his mood no doubt darkened further when Sabalenka subsequently alluded to the cake fiasco in her winners’ speech. 

“I think it’s all because of yesterday’s cake, it was too good,” laughed the Belarusian.

Whatever the truth, there can be no doubt about the convergence of unfortunate circumstances that blighted the tournament.

“There was just a build-up of a lot of tension,” said Pegula. “It just kind of got worse and worse and worse regarding a lot of issues that you guys see online, funny tweets or whatever. 

“That didn’t help the situation. I don’t know if it was the sole reason, but I think there were just a lot of things built up that led to that decision, which is unfortunate. 

“I wish they could have handled it in a more mature, professional way. That’s not what happened.”

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Since the inception of the Madrid Open in 2001, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray are among the stars who have tried and failed to defend the title, with five-time champion Nadal the only man to claim back-to-back victories in the Spanish capital. 

But that changed on Sunday as Alcaraz retained the crown he won last year against Alexander Zverev with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over another German, lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff, to equal the landmark set by his compatriot nine years ago. With his fourth tournament victory of the season, the 20-year-old also matched another of Nadal’s milestones, becoming the youngest man to defend a Masters 1000 title since the 22-time grand slam champion did it in Monte Carlo and Rome in 2006.

Having also mounted a successful title defence in Barcelona a fortnight ago, Alcaraz will overtake Djokovic at the top of the rankings next week in Rome, where he will attempt to win the tournament on his debut. The last man to do it? Nadal. Should he pull it off, Alcaraz might as well stick a bull logo on his shirt and be done with it. 

“I have never played in Rome,” said Alcaraz, who skipped the event last year to rest after his exploits in Madrid. “I really want to play there. I missed last year. 

“This is a tournament that I looking for since I was kid. I don’t know how it’s going to be, I don’t know the feelings over there, but for sure I’m going to enjoy that tournament.”

With Nadal still absent as he continues his recovery from the hip injury he suffered at the Australian Open, and a lingering question mark over Djokovic’s fitness after the elbow problem that forced him to pull out of Madrid, Alcaraz may well enjoy himself. He will arrive in Rome as the title favourite and, barring a dominant performance from Djokovic, who has been practising in Marbella without the protective sleeve he wore on his elbow in Monte Carlo and Banja Luka, he will be similarly fancied by the oddsmakers in Paris.

It was a similar story last year, of course, when wins over Nadal, Djokovic and Zverev across three consecutive days in Madrid led to predictions of Alcaraz claiming a maiden grand slam title in Paris, only for Zverev to ambush the Murcian in the quarter-finals. But as Alcaraz’s performance against Struff demonstrated, the difference this time around is that he is better equipped to win on those rare days when aspects of his game are misfiring, even against an opponent playing at the height of his ability.

In the biggest match of his career, Struff, the world No 65, certainly did that. The error-strewn service game with which he began was quickly exposed as a red herring, the 33-year-producing some venomous returns as he forced Alcaraz to battle for nine minutes to hold his opening service game. Daniela Hantuchova, the former world No 5 turned TV pundit, suggested that the heavily watered court represented an attempt by the organisers to slow down the conditions, nullifying the 6ft 4in Struff’s huge serve and favouring the home favourite. 

If that was the case, however, the stratagem backfired, neutralising the pace of Alcaraz’s delivery and allowing Struff to maintain an aggressive return position on the baseline. Two games later, the German blasted a return winner to break back to love. Alcaraz began to look unsettled, gesturing in frustration to his box before switching to a different racket. Tension was very much the order of the afternoon.

Alcaraz reasserted his authority, forcing a break in the seventh game as Struff double-faulted after another lengthy struggle on serve. But the German’s bold hitting and willingness to rush the net, even behind his second serve, continued to cause the Spaniard all manner of problems. He was almost undone by a trio of forehand errors as he served for the set, recovering from 0-40 with some incisive serving and a brilliant topspin lob. Alcaraz sealed the opener with a thunderbolt forehand, but some aggressive returning from Struff secured an early break in the second, and from there the lower-ranked man seized control to level the contest.

With a stunned silence descending on the Caja Mágica and Alcaraz’s errors mounting, the momentum was with Struff as they went into the decider. History both recent and distant was with him. Having defeated Alcaraz two years ago at Roland Garros – and pushed him to a fifth set at Wimbledon last summer in their only other previous meeting – he would be unlikely to falter at the prospect of victory. Moreover, he had gone the distance in five consecutive matches en route to the final and not been broken once in a deciding set. 

So there was real danger for Alcaraz as he faced a break point in the third game. Struff, though, failed to grasp the nettle, waiting for his opponent to miss only to send a backhand long himself. Alcaraz had seen enough. Orchestrating the crowd into a paroxysm of fervour, the US Open champion broke in the next game, pulling off a signature drop shot winner before prising a volleying error from Struff. He would not be caught. 

Even in defeat, though, this was a tournament that belonged to Struff. His improbable run to the final, after losing in qualifying to Aslan Karatsev – a defeat he avenged in the last four – has been the stuff of fairytales. He will now rise to a career-high ranking of 28 and, if he can maintain this level, he is more than capable of a deep run at Roland Garros or Wimbledon, where he was a quarter-finalist five years ago.

“It’s been an incredible journey from lucky loser to be in the final,” said Struff. “It gives me a lot of push for the next weeks and months. It was a best-career achievement so far.

“I think it will sink in [over] the next [few] days.”

As for Alcaraz, he knew he had been in a fight.

“I knew he was going to play aggressive, serve and volley, trying to attack my serve,” said the Spaniard, whose title defence started in similarly testing style against Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori last week. “It was tough for me.”

Tougher tests yet lie ahead. The suspicion is that Alcaraz will be ready for all of them.

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A fortnight after she was beaten in straight sets by Iga Swiatek in Stuttgart, Sabalenka showed steely resolve to turn the tables on the Polish world No 1 and claim her second Madrid Open title in three years. 

Having failed to take a set from Swiatek in their three previous clay-court meetings, the Belarusian resisted an inspired fightback from the two-time French Open champion to prevail 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, securing a tour-leading third title of what is fast becoming a career-defining season.

Sabalenka now stands alongside Petra Kvitova, Serena Williams and Simona Halep as a multiple title winner in the Spanish capital. Few would bet against her joining that elite trio as a multiple grand slam champion. Having won her first major at the Australian Open in January, the 25-year-old has amassed five WTA 1000 titles and is rapidly gaining ground on Swiatek at the top of the rankings, with a 6,000-point gap at the start of the year now reduced to 1,744 points.

“It was really intense,” said Sabalenka after shading a contest decided by a sequence of seven three-game runs in either direction from 3-3 in the first set.

“It’s always tough battles against Iga. She always pushes me to the limits. I really enjoy our battles. Hopefully, we can play many more finals this season.

“I definitely respect her a lot. She’s a great player and what she did last season, and what she keeps doing, it’s really motivated me a lot to improve, to keep working hard, to keep fighting.”

It is too early to suggest that women’s tennis has a defining rivalry. For all the rarity of the world’s top two contesting finals at WTA 1000 level – it last happened in 2014, when Serena Williams defeated Li Na in the Miami Open final – it is only a few weeks since the Belarusian’s rivalry with Elena Rybakina was being hailed as the next big thing. Rybakina, who avenged her loss to Sabalenka in the Australian Open final with a straight-sets victory in Indian Wells, and has handed Swiatek two of her four defeats this year, will undoubtedly be there or thereabouts when the big prizes are decided in the weeks and months ahead. 

The same goes for Swiatek, who struggled to find rhythm and depth on her serve in the quick conditions at the Caja Mágica, but can expect to fare better in Rome and Roland Garros, where the slower pace enables her to showcase her outstanding movement and defensive skills to maximum effect. She remains the player to beat on the red dirt. 

Even so, it would be foolhardy to underestimate the significance of this result. While Sabalenka’s victory is not quite up there with Tracy Austin ending Chris Evert’s 125-match winning streak on clay at the Foro Italico in 1979, it was momentous in its own way. Swiatek’s only previous loss in a clay-court final came against Slovenia’s Polona Hercog four years ago in Lugano, when the Pole was an unknown 17-year-old. Swiatek had since won six successive finals on the red stuff but, on a day when she was never able to contain Sabalenka’s fearless ball-striking for long enough to assert sustained control, it was testimony to her competitive spirit that she was even able to force a decider.

That certainly looked unlikely after Sabalenka, steadily growing in authority, had clinched an absorbing first set. The former champion had vowed to learn from her setback in Stuttgart, where she frequently created opportunities only to overpress at the critical moment. True to her word, she did indeed adopt a more measured approach – and yet there was no holding back. After battling through several deuces to hold her opening service game, the Belarusian delivered an emphatic statement of intent in her second, hammering down first serves and feasting on Swiatek’s short replies as she rifled winners off both wings. The tone was set.

Powerful and purposeful on serve, where she frequently tucked up Swiatek with vicious deliveries into the body, Sabalenka was barely less effective on the return. Combining her signature weight of shot with immaculate depth, Sabalenka limited her opponent’s ability to dictate the baseline exchanges, preferring to go long than allow the Pole the feelgood factor of battering short balls into the corners. The message was clear: if Sabalenka was going to lose, it would be on her own terms.

There was an uncharacteristic flash of anger from Swiatek when she snatched at a forehand to go 15-40 down in the fifth game, the Pole slapping her thigh in annoyance. Helped by a crushing forehand, but helped even more by some loose play from Sabalenka, she navigated her way out of danger on that occasion. Three games later, though, a wildly miscued backhand sparked a frenetic volley of excited chatter from Swiatek towards her box. Two more errors off the same wing handed Sabalenka the first break, and she served out the set confidently, drilling a huge backhand into the corner that Swiatek could only prod at despairingly.

With trademark determination, Swiatek returned from a bathroom break to force her way back into the contest, converting her first break point of the match as Sabalenka rolled a forehand tamely into the net. The Belarusian quickly hit back, wresting Swiatek’s serve from her as she punctuated a lengthy struggle with a screaming backhand winner, but the Pole was not to be denied. Swiatek survived more danger at 3-3, fending off two break points, before smoking a forehand winner in the next game to secure a second break. This time, it proved decisive.

With the contest level despite Swiatek struggling at times, Sabalenka, producing some of her finest tennis, might easily have let her head drop. In the past, she probably would have done. But the woman with the tiger tattoo is a different competitive animal these days. She also has form for translating defeat in Stuttgart into victory in Madrid. Two years ago, Sabalenka avenged a loss to Ashleigh Barty on the indoor clay of Stuttgart’s Porsche Arena with a three-set win over the Australian at the Caja Mágica. So it was again. Sabalenka opened up a 3-0 lead in the decider, maintained her composure when Swiatek forced her way back to level, and then drove for the finish line. 

“In the second set I saw what I could do and I tried to keep that in the third,” said Swiatek, who looked distraught after Sabalenka denied her two break points in the third game of the decider. 

“I did my best to keep the intensity and still keep the control here. Maybe next year I’m going to know better if I can do even more [in Madrid] or not, but for sure I did 100% of what I could, so no regrets.”

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Aryna Sabalenka is in no doubt about the nature of the opportunity that lies before her as she prepares to take on Iga Swiatek in a clay-court final for the second time in two weeks at the Caja Mágica.

“I really want to have this revenge,” said Sabalenka, the Belarusian world No 2, of the prospect of turning the tables on Swiatek, who defeated her in straight sets in the final of the Stuttgart Open a fortnight ago. 

“I think I would just play with more passion. I wouldn’t rush things. I would just go one more time, try better, and fight for this title.”

Trying better has become something of a mantra for the 25-year-old, whose journey from self-proclaimed Queen of Double Faults to Australian Open champion has been well documented. Sabalenka believes that the improvements she has made to her serve – an achilles heel last season, the bedrock of two titles and five final appearances this season – can give her a vital edge in the Spanish capital, where the quick conditions lend extra edge to a delivery that regularly touches speeds in the region of 120mph. 

“I would say that before our first matches last season when I didn’t feel my best, it was really tough to play against her because I didn’t have so many weapons,” said Sabalenka, who was defeated by Swiatek in Qatar, Stuttgart, Rome and New York last year before finally getting the better of the Pole at the season-ending WTA Finals. 

“I had my character, and that’s it. Later, when I fixed my serve, I understood that actually I can play well against her, I can beat her. Right now, it’s a different mentality. Going into this match you just kind of prepare yourself for a tough battle, and whatever happens on court, it’s not really bothering you. You’re focused, you’re ready for that, and you’re really enjoying these battles.”

A stony-faced Sabalenka gave little appearance of having enjoyed her 6-3, 6-4 loss in Stuttgart last month, briefly leaving the court to sit with her team before the trophy presentation. Yet her tactics were sound, the Belarusian seeking to draw Swiatek wide with clever angles and changes of pace before landing the coup de grâce. The problem for Sabalenka, as Swiatek showcased her extraordinary movement and defensive skills, was patience rather than planning – a lesson that, she says, has been learned.

“In Stuttgart I was like going crazy when I had [a] slower shot or shorter shot or approach shot. I was just going crazy. I was rushing things. I tried to go for winners. This time I’ll just play with more passion, and I’ll just wait for a better shot to finish the point.”

If Sabalenka is indeed to gain vengeance, she will no doubt need to play at the very top of her game. While Swiatek has shown signs of vulnerability this season, losing to Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open and in Indian Wells, and to Barbora Krejcikova in the final of Dubai, the world No 1 has been back to her best with her beloved clay underfoot. Against Sabalenka, she will be gunning for her 10th straight win on the surface and 47th in 50 matches since the first of her two French Open victories in 2020. She will meet Saturday’s challenge head on.

“It’s always an exciting and really intense match, so I’m also looking forward [to it],” said Swiatek. “Playing against Aryna, you have to be 100% ready.”

In an age more notable for anodyne soundbites than fighting talk, Sabalenka’s openness about wanting to get her own back is refreshing. Yet different perspectives are available. Just ask Jan-Lennard Struff, beaten in qualifying by Russia’s Aslan Karatsev only to secure a place in the main draw as a lucky loser. Facing Karatsev for a second time with a place in a first Masters 1000 final at stake for both men, Struff, a 33-year-old German ranked 65 in the world, saw it as a second chance. From a set down, he took embraced the opportunity, outlasting the Russian 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to continue what has been a fairytale run.

“Very, very happy to get a second chance,” said Struff, who will face Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed and defending champion, in Sunday’s final. “I never would have expected this one, to be in the finals after being a lucky loser.”

So is there a moral to this tale of the unexpected?

“It’s just if you have a second chance, try to go for it,” said Struff. “Just that you shouldn’t give up and [you should] try again always.”

Whether they think of it as vengeance or merely a second chance, both Sabalenka and Struff will be aiming for the same outcome this weekend.

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Nadal, who has been sidelined by injury since tearing his psoas muscle during a defeat to Mackenzie McDonald at the Australian Open in January, said in a statement on social media that although his condition has improved in recent days, he is not yet ready to return to the match court. 

The 36-year-old, who first won at Roland Garros on his debut in 2005 and has not missed an edition of the tournament since, now faces the unprecedented prospect of contesting the tournament without a competitive clay-court match under his belt – if he makes it all. 

“I am very sorry to announce that I will not be able to be in Rome,” wrote the Spaniard, who has won 10 titles in the Italian capital. 

“You all know how much it hurts me to miss another of the tournaments that has been so important to me, both professionally and personally, because of all the affection and support of the Italian fans. 

“Despite having noticed an improvement in the last few days, it has been many months since I’ve been able to train at a high level and the adaptation process takes time. All that is left for me to do is accept it and keep working.”

When Nadal suffered the injury in mid-January, it seemed unimaginable he would find himself in this position almost four months later. The initial prognosis suggested he would be out for up to eight weeks, leaving him touch and go for the sunshine swing of Indian Wells and Miami, but almost certain to return in time for the start of the European clay-court season. Instead, he has been forced to pull out of events in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and now Rome. In the past, all have been key staging posts for Nadal on the road to glory in Paris. 

Mention of an improvement in his condition is encouraging, given that Nadal had previously said his hip was not healing as expected. But even if the 22-time grand slam champions able to mount a title defence at Roland Garros, the effects of his inactivity could be compounded by his recent drop in the rankings. Currently 14th, he could face the likes of Novak Djokovic or Carlos Alcaraz as early as round four.

Meanwhile Alcaraz, the world No 2, further underlined his credentials as the heir apparent to Nadal with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Croatia’s Borna Coric at the Madrid Open. The Spaniard, who was presented with a cake in honour of his 20th birthday afterwards, now stands within one win of becoming the first man since Nadal to successfully defend the Madrid title.

“It means a lot to me, playing a final again here in Madrid,” said Alcaraz, who defeated Nadal and Djokovic on the way to last year’s title win. “It’s such a special place for me and I have great memories since I came here to play [as an] under-12. Of course, last year was amazing.

“Turning 20 like that is special, so I will enjoy the final here and of course I will try to make all of Spain happy.”

To do so, he will need to find a way past Jan-Lennard Struff, the German world No 65, who fought back from a set down to avenge his qualifying defeat to Russia’s Aslan Karatsev. Struff, whose path to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory was eased as Karatsev laboured with a thigh injury in the closing stages, becomes the first lucky loser to reach a Masters 1000 final.

“It’s an incredible journey,” said Struff. “I wouldn’t have thought about this when I lost the match against Aslan in qualies. It just feels incredible, it’s my second final on the ATP Tour and it’s just amazing it’s at a Masters.”

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It took the Spanish world No 2 more than two hours to navigate his opening match against Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori last week. But in a repeat of last year’s final against Alexander Zverev, Alcaraz effectively secured victory in 11 minutes and four seconds, the time it took for him to snatch an early lead as the Olympic champion screwed a forehand wide to concede the first break.

Admittedly the match still had more than an hour left to run at that stage, but it was Alcaraz’s intensity and opportunism, after Zverev had twice double-faulted, that created the platform for the dominant victory that followed. 

All the same, it was hard to know what to make of the 19-year-old’s 6-1, 6-2 win. On the one hand, he is looking more assured with each passing round. Having struggled to get past Ruusuvuori, Alcaraz delivered a more accomplished performance to see off Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. His dismissal of Zverev was ruthlessly efficient. 

Yet the contest was also notable for the relative absence of the kind of highlights-reel moments that so often define Alcaraz’s best performances. Aside from a stunning backhand winner and some sudden and violent injections of extra pace on the forehand, Alcaraz was more often solid than spectacular. Was that down to excellence on his part, or a below-par showing from Zverev? Probably a little of both, although Alcaraz was understandably delighted with the result, describing his display as one of the best of his career. 

“For me, it’s amazing to play the level that I played today,” said the US Open champion, who will face Karen Khachanov for a place in the last four on Wednesday. 

“It’s been a question mark for me. This result doesn’t [feel] normal for me. 

“I just want to enjoy playing here in the Caja Mágica in front of my home crowd.

“I will try to play this level – I will say this is my best level. I have to show that in the quarter-final, but obviously playing this match gives me a lot of confidence.”    

Zverev, who came away with one less game than he managed against the 19-year-old this time last year, offered a slightly different perspective. The 26-year-old, who is set to drop out of the top 20 for the first time in six years as he continues his comeback from the devastating ankle injury he suffered at Roland Garros last summer, hailed the quality of his opponent but acknowledged that the road to recovering the kind of form that has twice seen him crowned champion in Madrid will be a bumpy one.

“It’s gonna be a process with ups and downs,” Zverev, who was ranked second and playing the finest tennis of his career this time last year, wrote on social media. 

“[Alcaraz] is one of the best players in the world and is on a different level to me at the moment.”

Daniil Medvedev, the second seed, endured a similar chastening experience against his Russian compatriot Aslan Karatsev, slipping to a 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 defeat against the former Australian Open semi-finalist. Unhappy to be scheduled in the relatively cramped confines of Aranxta Sanchez Stadium rather than on Manolo Santana, where he is better able to adopt his preferred return position deep behind the baseline, Medvedev complained long and hard to the match supervisor. 

“I don’t understand why, in the fourth round of a Masters, I am disadvantaged,” said Medvedev, who also expressed dissatisfaction about the shadow eclipsing part of the court.  

“Why do I have this disadvantage when I am No 2 [seed]? I don’t understand. It’s a little bit strange, right?”

It was a strange day all round for the top-ranked Russians, with Andrey Rublev, champion on the clay courts of Monte Carlo and a finalist in Banja Luka last month, beaten 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 by Khachanov. Rublev, the fifth seed, held two set points against his good friend and doubles partner in the first-set tiebreak, but was unable to capitalise.

Meanwhile, Zhang Zhizhen continued his remarkable run in the Spanish capital, recovering from a set and a break down and saving three match points to defeat Taylor Fritz, the eighth seed, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (10-8). It was a third high-profile scalp for the 99th-ranked Zhang, who came from behind to see off Cameron Norrie, the British 11th seed, and Denis Shapovalov, seeded 21, in the previous two rounds. Zhang, who had never previously won a match at this level, is the first Chinese man to reach the last eight at a Masters 1000 event. He will play Karatsev, also a first-time quarter-finalist at this level, for a place in the last four.

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Shevchenko, a 22-year-old qualifier ranked 96th in the world, first met his more celebrated countryman at the beginning of last year, when Medvedev invited him to join Russia’s ATP Cup team after Andrey Rublev and Aslan Karatsev were ruled out with Covid. Yet they were no strangers. United by a shared passion for gaming, they had been virtual friends and team-matesfor six years previously; it was a friendship for the 21st-century, one forged online and played out in pixels.

The earthier realities of clay-court tennis cut through all that in the Manolo Santana stadium, where there was little by way of camaraderie as the first on-court meeting between the pair ended with a 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory for Medvedev. 

Shevchenko, in red-hod form after seeing off a pair of top-50 players in JJ Wolf and the gifted Czech Jiri Lehecka, began like an express train. Medvedev, never the quickest of starters on a surface that remains his bête noire, looked all at sea as the younger man, playing with an assurance that belied his ranking, ripped forehands and pounded down serves, fist-pumping and bellowing as he went.

Medvedev’s response was characteristically quirky. First he turned botanist, searching around in a courtside flower box for a stray ball. Then, having conceded his serve for a second time to fall 3-0 behind, he muttered something indiscernible in Shevchenko’s direction at the changeover. A warning to tone down the triumphalism, perhaps? Whatever it was, it took the edge off Shevchenko’s gleeful celebrations while doing nothing to quell the excellence of his play.

When he caressed away a drop volley after turning defence to attack with a wonderful defensive lob, going on to hold for 5-1, Shevchenko gestured to the crowd, imploring them to get behind him, to make more noise. 

Medvedev, meanwhile, swatted angrily at the court. More than once, he responded to a mistake with a sarcastic thumbs up. Warned by the chair umpire not to spit on the court, he replied: “It’s the nature of the surface.” And when Shevchenko served out the set at the second time of asking, ending a run of three games against him, Medvedev, never one to shirk confrontation, urged on the crowd as they jeered and whistled him. 

“Sometimes you deserve it, sometimes not,” said Medvedev, who was also heckled in his matches against Lorenzo Sonego and Alexander Zverev at the Monte Carlo Masters.

“Probably, you know, I hit the racket a little bit, so maybe I deserve it. One time I took a challenge, they started booing. What, you don’t want me to take a challenge?  

“I feel like also sometimes the crowd right now in tennis, for whatever reason, I don’t know – maybe it was like this before also – comes for this excitement. 

“So as soon as something is happening, they don’t even know what’s happening, they just boo you. I experienced this quite a bit. 

“I think it’s just part of tennis right now.”

Medvedev, however, has a history of prospering in such circumstances, and once again he backed up his belligerence with boldness, racing through the second set for the loss of just one game as he dramatically reduced his unforced error count, competed more effectively from the baseline, and capitalised on a diminished serving performance from Shevchenko. 

There were still plenty of bumps in the road for the second seed, beginning with a nosebleed that delayed the start of the decider and left him sitting at courtside with a tissue hanging out of his nostril. Many players wouldn’t be seen dead in such a situation; Medvedev, though, scenting victory in spite of his predicament, appeared to have no thought beyond reaching the next round. Forget friendship. For all his gripes about clay, he remains the steeliest of competitors. 

Medvedev clawed his way back after Shevchenko, once again celebrating with gusto, broke for 2-0 with a finely executed drop shot, and staged another dramatic act of escapology at 2-4, craftily working his way back into a point he had no right to win to set up a break point. Shevchenko surrendered the opportunity with a tame error, and suffered further heartbreak when Medvedev recovered from 0-40 in the ninth game. As the clock passed the two and a half hour mark, Shevchenko began to cramp. His race was run.

“I don’t know when he started cramping, but he showed it at 5-5. Like 20 minutes, I was already cramping. Just I didn’t show it,” said Medvedev, who opened the European clay-court clay-court swing by reaching the last eight in Monte Carlo.

“I was like, ‘OK, he just came to the tour.’ He shouldn’t show it, because that’s when I’m going to go even harder mentally and physically.  

“When you win 7-5 in the third, it’s always mentally a brutal match, so I’m happy that I managed to win it. 

“I don’t have a title on clay yet. I really want to make it.”

To keep that ambition on course, Medvedev will need to get past Karatsev, who came through 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 against Australia’s Alex de Minaur. When the pair last played on clay, two years ago at the Rome Masters, Karatsev won in straight sets and Medvedev spent much of the match complaining about the surface. “

“You like to be in the dirt like a dog?” he mused at one changeover. “It’s OK, I don’t judge.”

Stand by for another eventful afternoon.

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As things turned out, Swiatek is not quite the grass-court specialist her early results might have suggested. But the two-time French Open champion is pretty useful on clay, a reality with which Pera became acquainted at first hand as Swiatek quashed any ambitions her opponent harboured of drawing her into another dogfight with an emphatic 6-3, 6-2 win at the Madrid Open.

It was a focused, disciplined performance from the world No 1, who was no more dismayed by the challenge of facing a dangerous, free-swinging southpaw than she has been by the altitude at the only big clay-court event she has yet to win.

“I wouldn’t say it was easy, every match is tricky here,” said Swiatek after reaching the last 16, just as she did on her only previous appearance at the Caja Mágica. 

“I’m pretty happy that I’ve played a little bit better every day, and I’m happy that I’m getting my rhythm. But playing a lefty is never easy. I think Bernarda really used it.”

Use it Pera did, troubling Swiatek in the early stages with her swinging left-handed serves and weighty forehands. The 28-year-old, who left her native Croatia at the age of 16 to represent the US, is an accomplished performer on the red dirt, as she demonstrated over a memorable fortnight last summer when she won the first tour-level singles titles of her career in Budapest and Hamburg. Capable of playing the brand of bold, first-strike tennis that has proved most effective against Swiatek, Pera threw down the gauntlet in the early stages, recovering from 0-40 to hold her opening service game before breaking to love behind some crushing returns.

They were fine moments for the American, but these days it takes more than just fine moments to defeat Swiatek. The Pole immediately replied in kind, peppering Pera’s backhand to claim a love break, and from there she never looked back. Indeed, such was Swiatek’s mastery that she dropped only seven more points on serve – a reminder of how much the bite and penetration of her delivery has improved since she was was beaten two years ago on the same court by Ashleigh Barty, who subjected her second serve to the sternest of examinations. 

With this result, Swiatek racked up a half-century of clay-court wins to overtake Serena Williams as the player with the highest winning percentage in clay-court events at this level. Given her consistency and quality of movement on the surface, not to mention her ability to attack or defend with equal dexterity, both statistics are likely to improve.

“Having both things combined and being able to do both, like Rafa [Nadal] or Novak [Djokovic] – they can play great in defence and kind of be patient, and also they can attack well – I think this should be the goal of every tennis player,” said Swiatek, who will face Ekaterina Alexandrova after the Russian 16th seed saw off China’s Qinwen Zheng 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. “That’s why we are working on both.”

Jessica Pegula also advanced in straight sets, although the only straightforward thing about her win over the Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova was the 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) scoreline. On a day when little came easily to the third seed, Pegula went up 5-2 only to find herself unexpectedly detained as Bouzkova, who had won three of their four previous meetings, fought off five set points. At the sixth time of asking, the American finally seized the initiative with a crunching forehand winner before establishing a commanding 2-0, 40-0 lead in the second set.

Again, though, Bouzkova battled her way back into contention, capitalising on some overcautious play from Pegula to fend off two match points in the 10th game, before forcing a tiebreak. 

“Marie is always tough, it’s a tough match-up for me,” said Pegula, who will face Italy’s Martina Trevisan, the 16th seed, for a place in the quarter-finals. 

“I don’t really love to play her, she always makes it very difficult, and we’ve had a lot of close matches, so I’m glad I won.”

In the men’s draw, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev made relatively comfortable progress after being taken the distance in their opening matches. 

Alcaraz, who struggled to find his range against Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori on Friday, delivered a vastly improved performance to see off Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov. After racing through the first set, the Spanish defending champion recovered from a break down in the second to seal a 6-2, 7-5 win. Zverev, who needed over three hours to subdue Roberto Carballes Baena in his opener, defeated Hugo Grenier of France 6-1, 6-0. 

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A year after he swept all before him in the Spanish capital, defeating Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev in successive rounds, Alcaraz was in very real danger of falling at the first hurdle. Ruusuvuori was the winner of their only previous meeting, two years ago in Miami, and while Alcaraz is a very different player now, the manner in which the smooth-hitting Finn dictated the opening set suggested he was more than capable of a repeat. 

There is a little of Jannik Sinner, another player who troubles Alcaraz, about Ruusuvuori. Tall, wiry and understated, the Finn fires clean, precise groundstrokes with equal facility off either wing, not least on the return, where he repeatedly landed the ball at Alcaraz’s feet, leaving the defending champion off balance and flicking at improvised half-volleys. On one occasion, the ball arrived back at Alcaraz’s shoe tops so swiftly that he was forced to take a low forehand on the volley from just inside the baseline.

It is rare for the Spaniard to absorb rather than administer such punishment, rarer still for him to suffer an off day. And as the unforced errors mounted – nearly half of his 33 mistakes came in the first set – the spectacle became ever more incongruous. Alcaraz looked as perplexed as anyone; we are accustomed to seeing him fight, but not against himself. 

Ruusuvuori backed up his impressive play off the ground with immaculate serving, particularly in the opening set, where he landed just over two-thirds of his first deliveries and won the point whenever he did. Ruusuvuori’s dominance was such that, by the time he cemented a 4-1 first-set lead, he had won 14 of the previous 18 points; Alcaraz’s frustration was such that, when he missed a routine pass five games into the second set, there was a rare flash of anger from the teenager, who slammed his racket into the court.

“I do not support this kind of thing and I regret it,” Alcaraz, who will play Grigor Dimitrov in the next round, later told Spanish reporters. “I have discussed it with Juan Carlos [Ferrero, his coach] and this type of thing cannot happen.”

The acid test for Alcaraz, the top seed in the absence of the injured Djokovic, came in the next game, where he battled for 14 minutes, fending off five break points, before finally holding for 3-3. It was a fascinating vignette, one that showcased the Spaniard’s mental steel as his game flickered in and out of life, brilliant one moment, baffling the next. The best of it was an impudent, skipping half-volley that set up an easy putaway; the worst of it, a backhand that flew inexplicably long, barely bouncing before it hit the advertising hoardings. But on a day when his usual assurance frequently deserted him, Alacaraz found what he needed when he most needed it. When he finally clinched the game with a rifled backhand winner, emitting a prolonged, triumphant roar, it felt like a turning point – and so it proved.

“I would say I was about to lose,” said Alcaraz of that pivotal game. “It was just one point. One of the break points he had at 3-2 in the second set was like a match point for him. I’m really happy I was able to save that game and come back a little bit.

“When I saved my serving game, being 3-3 in the second, I thought, ‘This is my chance, this is my moment.’ I tried to take that. I was very, very focused, I tried to put every ball in and run to every ball. I would say with a good attitude in the whole match I was able to come back.

“Emil was better than me until 3-3 in the second set. He was playing well with no mistakes, hitting the ball so, so good, with a lot of rhythm, and I couldn’t follow his rhythm. It was very tough for me to stay there, but I’m really happy to be able to come back and finish with a lot of confidence.”

The same could be said for Zverev, who survived an equally searching examination at the hands of Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena, eventually coming through 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-0 in a contest that finished shortly before 1.30am local time. The German former world No 2, twice the champion in Madrid, required treatment on a leg injury in the first set but eventually recovered from a set and a break down to prevail in three hours and 25 minutes.

As Alcaraz put it afterwards, “Sufrimos, pero ganamos”: “We suffer, but we win.”

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