MADRID: Andrey Rublev won the Madrid Open with a hard-fought 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday to secure his second title of the year, despite battling with illness.

The Russian world No. 8 said he was “almost dead every day” and could barely sleep this week after securing a career second Masters 1000 victory.

Rublev had lost four consecutive matches before arriving in the Spanish capital but came from a set down to beat his Canadian opponent.

The 26-year-old triumphed at the Hong Kong Open in January but struggled since before turning around his form in Madrid, dropping just one set on the way to what proved a tense final.

“I think it was an incredible match, Felix deserved (in) the same way as me to win today and we showed a great battle together, I think the most important thing was that the people enjoyed it,” said Rublev on court.

“Our sport is like this, we cannot have both winners.”

Rublev, who takes the Madrid crown from double champion Carlos Alcaraz whom he beat in the quarterfinals, said he had played despite feeling ill at times this week and hailed his doctors for helping him through.

“If you knew what I had been through in the past nine days you would not imagine that I would be able to win a title,” he added.

“I was almost dead every day, I was not sleeping at night — the last three, four days I didn’t sleep.”

Auger-Aliassime reached the final after his opponent Jiri Lehecka retired hurt in the semifinals and quarterfinal opponent Jannik Sinner withdrew with a hip injury, with the ATP draw at the clay-court tournament struck by misfortune.

However, the 23-year-old Canadian, ranked 35th in the world, gave everything he had in his first Masters 1000 final appearance.

Auger-Aliassime started superbly by breaking to love in the first game and then again in the fifth game for a 4-1 lead.

Rublev recovered a break when Auger-Aliassime went long, and consolidated for a 4-3 deficit.

The Russian saved a set point to hold for 5-4 down but Auger-Aliassime clinched it at the second opportunity with a forehand down the line.

In the second set the Canadian held for 3-3 with a brilliant drop shot after Rublev spurned a break point.

They stayed on serve until the 12th game when Rublev brought up two set points, converting the second to take it to a deciding third set.

Rublev raced through his service games and put heavy pressure on his opponent’s serve, forcing a break point in the second game and two more in the fourth, none of which he could take.

Auger-Aliassime produced huge serves to fight his way out of tough spots, racking up 14 aces in the match to Rublev’s seven.

However Rublev dropped just three points on his serve in the third set, while Auger-Aliassime trailed in all of his service games but always battled back, until the decisive 12th game.

Auger-Aliassime double-faulted to hand Rublev the title, with the Russian falling to the floor in delight.

LIVERPOOL, England: The smile is back on Jurgen Klopp’s face — even if his Liverpool players seem intent on testing his nerves right to the end.

The Premier League title may be all but beyond the Merseyside club, but that doesn’t mean the drama is over for Klopp, who will step down at the end of the season.

Last week he was arguing on the sideline with Mohamed Salah as Liverpool effectively dropped out of the title race. And while Salah opened the scoring in a 4-2 win against Tottenham at Anfield on Sunday, it was Harvey Elliott who appeared to bring the broadest smile to Klopp’s face with a wonderful long-range goal in what looked like being a cakewalk for Klopp’s team.

“What a goal,” the Liverpool manager said. “In the game you only see it flying in and I thought, ‘That was a good shot.’ The goal I saw afterwards, there was not a lot of space left or right. It went exactly where it should be be. Top goal.”

Elliott’s strike, after goals from Salah, Andy Robertson and Cody Gakpo, fired Liverpool into a 4-0 lead before the game had even reached the hour mark. What followed was the unlikeliest of fightbacks from Spurs that might have made this another frustrating day in what has ultimately been a disappointing finale for Klopp at the end of nearly nine trophy-filled years.

Goals from Richarlison and Son Heung-min made it a much closer contest than it had ever looked like being. And it needed two outstanding saves from Alisson, a goal-line clearance from Joe Gomez and a VAR call to prevent it from being closer still.

“It’s a little bit of a mirror of the season. Really, really, really, good until we were really rubbish and then, we were okay again,” Klopp said.

A nervy finish didn’t stop the home fans from beckoning Klopp to produce his trademark post-match triple fist pump to the crowd after his penultimate home game in charge, with Feyenoord coach Arne Slot set to take over next season.

Mathematically, at least, it is not over for third-place Liverpool, who sit five points adrift of leader Arsenal with two games remaining. But, in reality, a late-season slump has killed Klopp’s hopes of walking away with a second Premier League crown of his reign.

His team had been heavily rebuilt over the past two seasons and was not expected to contend at the top so soon. But this season at one point offered Liverpool the hope of a quadruple of trophies. Now they feel like it is ending on an underwhelming note.

Still, Klopp, who delivered the English League Cup in February, will walk away from a team that is on the up and leave his successor with plenty of young talent to work with.

The 21-year-old Elliott is a prime example and he showcased his ample potential with an assist and a goal as Liverpool threatened to run riot.

His perfectly placed curling cross provided Gakpo with the simple task of heading in Liverpool’s third and then he swept an unstoppable shot from around 20 yards (meters) into the top corner and beyond Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

“Harvey is exceptional. Still so young. So exceptional,” Klopp said. “In the midfield position, it was probably one of the top three performances from him today. The goal was exceptional. Everyone needs moments to gain more confidence. It was a good moment. That helps definitely.”

VILLA SLIPS

A bad week for Aston Villa got worse after a surprise 1-0 loss at Brighton.

Unai Emery’s team lost 4-2 at home to Olympiakos in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semifinal on Thursday. And on a day when it could have secured its place in next season’s Champions League, it suffered another setback when Joao Pedro headed home a rebound in the 87th after seeing his penalty saved by Robin Olsen.

Only Spurs’ loss at Anfield prevented it from being a bigger blow after the result at the Amex Stadium had given Ange Postecoglou’s team hope in its pursuit of Villa in fourth.

But Villa still missed out on the chance of making certain of a top-four finish.

CHELSEA ROUT WEST HAM

Chelsea’s troubled season could still end on something of a high after Mauricio Pochettino’s team boosted their chances of European soccer next season with a 5-0 rout of West Ham.

The win at Stamford Bridge moved Chelsea up to seventh in the standings and two points behind sixth-place Newcastle. Only the top six teams in the Premier League will be guaranteed a place in Europe next season.

“We need to keep this momentum and belief going,” Pochettino said.

While Chelsea’s exorbitant spending under US owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital was supposed to put the 2021 Champions League winner back in contention for the biggest prizes, qualification for Europe would represent progress after finishing in the bottom half of the table last year and another season of struggle this term.

After a morale-boosting 2-0 win against Tottenham on Thursday, Chelsea followed it up by thrashing West Ham.

Nicolas Jackson scored twice in the second half after Chelsea had raced to a 3-0 lead by the break through goals from Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher and Noni Madueke.