Alexander Blockx added another significant moment to his spring surge on the European clay Thursday at the Mutua Madrid Open.
The 21-year-old Belgian upset 12th seed and 2025 champion Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to march into the semi-finals at the clay ATP Masters 1000 event.
The World No. 69 Blockx, who had not won an ATP Tour match on clay prior to his third-round run at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters earlier this month, produced a classy all-around display to overwhelm Ruud inside Manolo Santana Stadium.
“To be honest, I’m just happy with being here,” said Blockx, who has also upset third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and 16th seed Francisco Cerundolo en route to the last four.
“Even winning my first match here. I barely escaped in the first round, and I was happy about that already. Semi-finals is something I wouldn’t have even dreamed of to begin with.
“I’m proud of how I’ve played these past couple of matches. I think the conditions suit me well here. I feel like it’s clay which is slow, so I have time to settle and hit my shots, go for my shots. At the same time, it’s quite fast with the altitude and the heat sometimes. I think it’s the perfect combination for me.”
With his 96-minute triumph, Blockx became the fourth lowest-ranked player to reach the semi-finals in Madrid event history.
The 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor is the second man born in 2005 or later to reach the last four at a Masters 1000 event after Jakub Mensik won the Miami Open presented by Itau in 2025.
Standing between Blockx and a spot in his maiden tour-level championship match will be either second seed and two-time champion Alexander Zverev or 10th seed Flavio Cobolli.
Zverev and Cobolli will round out the quarter-final action in Madrid on Thursday evening,
Blockx converted three out of seven break points he earned in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Ruud, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
The Belgian was precise with his serving and hammered his forehand with trademark power throughout, while he also sprinkled in a couple of stunning drop shots — including one viciously spinning effort from an unlikely position to clinch the first break of the match in the third game.
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“Always before the match, I’m very curious about what is going to happen,” Blockx said. “Like, ‘Am I going to feel my ball well and how is my opponent going to play?’. But I thought from the first game I was hitting my ball quite well, and I made [lots of] returns… Once I got my first game, I was really into the match.”
Blockx is now 4-2 against Top 20 opponents, with all four of his wins coming this month (d. Cobolli in Monte-Carlo, d. Auger-Aliassime, F. Cerundolo and Ruud in Madrid). The Belgian is up 34 spots to No. 35 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings as a result of his Madrid run so far.
Meanwhile Ruud, who began his Madrid title defence by dropping just five games across his first two matches and then saved two match points to edge Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round, will on Monday leave the Top 20 for the first time since May 2021. The Norwegian is currently No. 25 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. [atptour.com)
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