Belgium’s Alexander Blockx continued his breakthrough run at the Madrid Open on Thursday, upsetting defending champion Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semifinals of a Masters 1000 event for the first time in his career.
Blockx had never won an ATP Tour-level match on clay before this month but has thrived in Madrid, having earlier knocked out third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on his way to the last four.
The 21-year-old wrapped up the victory in 96 minutes to become the fourth-lowest-ranked player to reach the semifinals in the tournament’s history.
The World No. 69 showed few signs of nerves as he dismantled Ruud with aggressive baseline play and solid serving.
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“I’m proud of how I’ve played these past couple of matches. I think the conditions suit me well here,” Blockx said in his on-court interview.
“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.”
Published on Apr 30, 2026
