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The 26-year-old went the distance to earn his second title at this level against Auger-Aliassime, a first-time ATP Masters 1000 finalist.

After losing his serve in the first game of the match, Rublev shook off his early nerves to come back in the second. In a tight third set, Rublev dictated the game with his first serve, using it to drag him to the win.

Rublev came into the Madrid Open on the back of a four-match losing streak but dug deep to get his sixth ATP Tour clay-court title, earning his biggest win of the season after two hours and 47 minutes.

Since the start of the 2020 season, only Stefanos Tsitsipas (three) has won more ATP Masters 1000 events on clay than Rublev (two), who is now level with Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz over that timespan.

Rublev (221) only trails Daniil Medvedev (223) for ATP match wins since the start of the 2020 season, while holding a win percentage of 72 per cent (221-86) over that span.