Blockx defeats three straight top-20 opponents to reach first Masters semi-final
Blockx (world No 69) beat Ruud (No 12) 6-4, 6-4, ended the defending champion’s nine-match Madrid winning streak, and became the third Belgian in Masters history to reach a semi-final. He started 2026 ranked No. 117. On Thursday morning in Madrid, that number felt like ancient history.
Alexander Blockx, Madrid 2026 | © Madrid Trophy Promotion
Alexander Blockx eliminated defending champion Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday morning to reach the semi-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open, producing the most complete performance of a week that has already redrawn the boundaries of what Belgian tennis can expect from its newest star.
The 21-year-old from Antwerp was dominant from the opening game. Ruud, who had saved two match points against Tsitsipas to reach the quarter-finals on Tuesday, found none of the composure that had defined his week — Blockx broke in the fifth game of each set and never relinquished the advantage.
The scalps have accumulated with a speed that has surprised even those who have been tracking Blockx’s development closely. Cristian Garin 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6 (3), 6-3, Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (8), 6-2 — and now Ruud, the defending champion with nine consecutive wins in Madrid before Thursday.
“I’m proud of how I’m playing the last couple of matches”, Blockx said. I think the conditions suit me well here. It’s clay, which is slow. I have time to settle and hit my shots, go for my shots. But at the same time it’s quite fast with the altitude and the heat sometimes. I think it’s the perfect combination for me.”
“I barely escaped in the first round. I was happy about that already. But semifinals I wouldn’t have even dreamed of to be here with.”
World No.35 and Belgium nO.1?
Blockx began 2026 ranked No. 117. He will begin next week inside the top 35 — and, if Zizou Bergs does not win in Aix-en-Provence this week, as Belgian No. 1 for the first time.
The achievement has a historical dimension that requires context. Blockx is only the third Belgian to reach a Masters 1000 semi-final since the series began in 1990, after Christophe Rochus in Hamburg in 2005 and David Goffin, who reached the stage six times between 2016 and 2019.
He is the youngest Belgian quarter-finalist in the series’ history. A year ago, he was on the Challenger circuit, winning titles in Oeiras and Bratislava and reaching the Next Gen ATP Finals final, where he lost to Learner Tien in a rematch of the 2023 Australian Open boys’ final. He made his Grand Slam main draw debut as a lucky loser at the Australian Open in January. Madrid is something else entirely.
He faces the winner of the match between Alexander Zverev, the second seed, and Flavio Cobolli, the No 10 seed, in the semi-finals.
