Match Reaction
Blockx continues dream run into Madrid SFs: ‘Once you get confident, a lot can happen’
21-year-old is up 34 spots to No. 35 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings
April 30, 2026
THOMAS COEX/Getty Images
Alexander Blockx has earned three Top 20 wins so far during the 2026 Mutua Madrid Open.
By Jerome Coombe
Alexander Blockx is enjoying the run of his career this week at the Mutua Madrid Open, and there’s no sign of it slowing down.
The 21-year-old Belgian continued his dream campaign on Thursday, when he earned his third Top 20 win of the event by defeating defending champion Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final. While Blockx couldn’t have predicted such a breakthrough in the Spanish capital, he’s embracing every moment of it.
“No, definitely not. I was already happy with getting into the main draw here,” said Blockx, who is up 34 spots to No. 35 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. “I got into the main draw last minute on Friday, just before the deadline. So winning my first match here was already a bonus for me. Then of course all the other matches, I never thought I would get that far.
“But once you get confident and you feel your game, a lot can happen. Every game is still a bonus. It’s my first time in such a deep run, and I’m just happy to still be here.”
Blockx began the year as the World No. 117 and had not recorded an ATP Tour win on clay before reaching the third round in Monte-Carlo earlier this month. He then pushed Ben Shelton in a pair of tight sets in Munich, before finding his rhythm, and composure, in Madrid.
Despite relatively limited tour-level experience on clay, Blockx is proving he can challenge the very best on the surface. The 6’4” Belgian, who competed at the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals, has stayed committed to his process, and it’s now paying off in spectacular fashion.
“I was just practising and doing my thing like I always did,” Blockx said when asked if he had done something different in the past few months. “Sometimes it pays off, sometimes not. This week it’s paying off.
“I never had too much confidence on clay the last couple of years. But I think I cannot say that anymore with the results I am having. I think I improved a lot on all my shots, my physicality. I think the conditions here are a bit quicker than the usual clay, so that helps as well. But I definitely like clay now.”
Before his quarter-final win over Ruud, Blockx had already defeated World No. 5 Felix Auger-Aliassime and No. 20 Francisco Cerundolo. Against the two-time Roland Garros finalist, he leaned on his powerful serve and physical presence, pairing it with deep baseline positioning and smart shotmaking to disrupt the Norwegian’s rhythm.
“It’s nice beating the defending champion, and also Casper, whose favourite conditions are here, I think,” Block said after his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Ruud. “That shows me that I can play well on clay too. [My] ranking is going up really fast, and it’s nice to be able to play the bigger tournaments now. I don’t know the ceiling, I’ll just see match by match, and hopefully I can get as high as I can.”
Blockx will continue his remarkable run in the semi-finals, where he will face second seed and two-time Madrid champion Alexander Zverev or 10th seed Flavio Cobolli. The Belgian currently holds a 9-3 record in 2026, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
