Blockx stuns Auger-Aliassime as Madrid’s last 16 takes shape

Alexander Blockx produced the result of the day at the Mutua Madrid Open on Monday, beating Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No 3 seed, 7-6 (3), 6-3 to reach the last 16 for the second consecutive Masters 1000 event – and record the biggest win of his career.

The 20-year-old Belgian, ranked No 53 in the live rankings and a former world No 1 junior, was composed and clinical throughout. He saved the only break point he faced and dropped his serve just once across the match, winning the second set with three consecutive service holds in which he conceded not a single point.

“I was serving amazing from the beginning of the match,” Blockx said. “I had so much confidence. I didn’t even think about panicking or losing my serve. In the second set, it was one of the best levels I have played.”

Auger-Aliassime, ranked No 5, had not dropped a game on serve against Gaubas in the previous round. Against Blockx, he could not break when it mattered and lost the only one brealk points he had to face at 1-0 in the second.

Blockx faces Francisco Cerundolo in the quarter-finals

Elsewhere on Monday, the bottom half of the draw consolidated around its favourites. Defending champion Casper Ruud extended his Madrid winning streak to eight matches with a 6-3, 6-1 demolition of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, having dropped just five games across his first two matches.

He meets Stefanos Tsitsipas next — a reunion with the 2019 finalist, who ended Spanish qualifier Daniel Merida’s run 6-4, 6-2 with the kind of clean, joyful tennis he said afterwards has been missing from his game for too long. “When you are fighting and in a good mindset and constantly looking and searching for opportunities,” Tsitsipas said, “you feel like the joy of the game on its own allows you to feel fulfilled already when you’re on the court.”

Alexander Zverev, the second seed, was less fluent but equally effective. He beat Terence Atmane 6-3, 7-6 (2), surviving a wobble when he failed to serve out the match at 5-4 before regrouping to dominate the tiebreak. The two-time Madrid champion joins Sinner as the only players to reach the last 16 at all four Masters 1000 events this season.

He faces Jakub Mensik next — the Czech edging past Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6 (11) in the day’s final match.

Daniil Medvedev, the No 7 seed, was the most efficient of the favourites – dispatching Nicolai Budkov Kjaer 6-3, 6-2 in 69 minutes to set up a last-16 meeting with Flavio Cobolli. The Italian beat Paraguayan qualifier Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 6-3, 6-2 to advance.