Madrid Open champion Andrey Rublev has revealed he spent two-and-a-half-days in hospital following his victory in the Spanish capital last week. The Russian fell poorly during the Madrid tournament, having developed symptoms of a ‘crazy’ illness.

Rublev waltzed to victory in Madrid, with the 26-year-old looking back to his best during a scintillating run to the final. Knocking out Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-final, Rublev beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in the last four stage, before edging past Félix Auger-Aliassime in the final.

However, after lifting the Madrid Open title, Rublev revealed he’d been struggling with illness throughout the competition. Speaking to Tennis TV, he said: “I spent two-and-a-half days in hospital… I had a tonsil abcess.

“It was crazy because one day I woke up and my throat doubled, it was bigger than it should be. The whole where you breathe was super small and the throat was in super pain.”

He added: “It’s tough to swallow because it’s painful and the hole is small. You cannot eat because it’s painful and you cannot eat because you cannot swallow big pieces.

“It’s tough to breathe because you have less space… so my throat was an ugly colour and the smell from my mouth you cannot imagine how horrible it was.”

The Russian ace did a magnificent job of masking his pain, given he looked so calm and composed on the court. But, Rublev admitted he had been massively struggling with the tonsil problem.

He continued: “I could not take it… during the whole tournament, I was feeling worse and worse. And then as soon as I finished the final, early morning, we went to the hospital.

“They did a couple of checks, they checked my body, when the doctor he did one test or something, he said it’s an emergency he needed to admit me immediately.

“Since I was in hospital, after half a day, I already felt better. The next day I was already feeling so good, but for nine days I was struggling a lot.”

After making a full recovery, Rublev is set to return to action at the Italian Open on Saturday afternoon when he takes on Marcos Giron in the second round. The Madrid Open champion will fancy his chances of back-to-back victories, given the way the draw has shaped up. Should he progress past Giron, he’ll take on either Alexandre Muller or Arthur Fils in the third round, before a possible fourth-round tie against Nicolas Jarry.