Madrid Open 2026 Day Six Recap

Day Six at the Mutua Madrid Open was a fairly routine round with one clear standout upset and most of the big names advancing without too much trouble.

The headline result was 20-year-old Belgian qualifier Alexander Blockx taking out third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6(3) 6-3 for his first Top 10 win.

Elsewhere, Stefanos Tsitsipas looked solid in straight sets, Casper Ruud continued his run as defending champion, and Alexander Zverev had to fight through a late wobble before closing out Terence Atmane.

Here are the notable results from Day 6:

Day Six 2026 Madrid Open Round of 32 Results

Match Recap

Alexander Blockx def. (3) Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6(3) 6-3

The biggest upset of the day. The 20-year-old Belgian qualifier produced a confident, composed performance to record his first Top 10 win.

Blockx served excellently (saving the only break point he faced) and controlled the rallies well. He moves up to No. 53 in the live rankings and will now face Francisco Cerúndolo in the quarter-finals. This continues a strong clay swing for Blockx after also reaching the last 16 in Monte Carlo.

Stefanos Tsitsipas def. Daniel Mérida (Q) 6-4 6-2

A solid, efficient straight-sets win for the Greek as he continues his improved form. Tsitsipas spoke about feeling real “joy” on court and reconnecting with his game. He converted 3/4 break points and will now face defending champion Casper Ruud in a fourth-round clash (their first meeting since the 2024 Barcelona final).

Is he back? Too early to say, but things are heading in the right direction, and this is the first time he’s won three matches at a tournament (excluding the United Cup) since his Dubai title run in February last year.

(12) Casper Ruud def. (20) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 6-1

The defending champion dropped just five games in the match (and only five across his first three matches combined). Ruud looks in ok form heading into his matchup with Tsitsipas, but the level between these two today wasn’t anything to write home about. 

(2) Alexander Zverev def. Terence Atmane 6-3 7-6(2)

Zverev had to navigate a late twist. He failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set as Atmane mounted a comeback, but the two-time Madrid champion regrouped well and dominated the tiebreak to close it out.

With this win, Zverev has now reached the last 16 in all nine of his Madrid appearances and joins Sinner as the only players to reach the fourth round at all four Masters 1000 events this season. 

I can’t really remember a Zverev match where he doesn’t seem to struggle to close it out. Maybe against the real lower-tier stuff, but any sort of Top 100 type player, then he can go from cruise control to dogfight in no time at all. This time, he may have an excuse, as he looked to have some sort of back injury, which I guess puts his match tomorrow in jeopardy.

Highlights

Soon.

Madrid Open 2026 Day Seven Round of 16 Matches