Madrid Open ATP Day Six Round-Up | Stefanos Tsitsipas continues resurgence, Ruud continues to dominate and Blockx brilliance

The second part of third round tennis at the ATP Madrid Open was completed. There were just eight more spots left to complete the last-16 lineup with the rewards becoming very promising for the players.

Reigning champion Casper Ruud continued his title defence with other former finalists Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime were also in action.

But for some it was a lot better than others. Stefanos Tsitsipas was one of the leading lights as he set up a showdown with Casper Ruud in Madrid. The former World No.3 ended Daniel Merida's hometown run sweeping him aside 6-4, 6-2. Tsitsipas is down in a lowly World No.80 currently and converted three out of four break points he earned against Merida.

Tsitsipas has struggled for a long time in particular with injury and confidence but he is now into the Last 16 at a Masters 1000 for the first time in over a year and he is looking up with a positive mindset.

“When you are playing matches like that, where you are fighting and in a good mindset and constantly looking and searching for opportunities, you feel like the joy of the game on its own allows you to feel fulfilled already when you're on the court,” the Greek said. “These types of moments, [regardless] of the actual result, I feel like they teach me a lot. They make me get in touch with the game.

“I really love the game when I get to discover tennis in such ways. Just hitting winners, missing a few times, but overall trying to take the most out of it. Seeing good rotation of my ball and seeing I can actually press and create some big shots, these are the types of moments that make me really enjoy the game.”

Casper Ruud also raced past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina easing through 6-3, 6-1. He has dropped just five games in total having seen off Jaume Munar 6-0, 6-1 in his opener.

It will be the first meeting since their 2024 Barcelona final with Ruud winning through on that occasion. While there was continued joy for Alexander Blockx. The Belgian stunned Felix Auger-Aliassime to advance to the fourth round. he downed the Canadian 7-6(3), 6-3 for a first win over a top 10 opponent.

Blockx has had an interesting few months as he also reached the Last 16 in Monte-Carlo earlier this month and is up 16 spots to World No.53 in the ATP rankings. He began the season as World No.117.

Blockx is one of three players from the 2025 edition of the Next Gen Finals to impress this week with Rafael Jodar being his home event stealing the spotlight obviously so. Blockx was utterly clinical though and downed Auger-Aliassime in some style. He now faces Francisco Cerundolo who eased past Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-3.

Alexander Zverev was also in fine fettle as he took down Terence Atmane 6-3, 7-6. He survived a late wobble which saw him nearly hand momentum to the Frenchman when he missed match point and the Frenchman survived but he managed to seal it in the end in the tie-break.

Daniil Medvedev also sealed his progression in one of the easier conquerings of the day. He saw off Nicolai Budkov Kjaer with relative ease. After being thrashed by Matteo Berrettini last month 6-0, 6-0, something seems to have clicked in his game and he has surged though.

Flavio Cobolli also continued his exceptional week taking down Dani Vallejo, another surprise package 6-3, 6-2. While Jakub Mensik ended the night by downing Karen Khachanov edging a close tie-break 13-11 after winning the first set 6-4.