Alexander Blockx, Former Junior No.1, Is Rising Rapidly in Madrid

Alexander Blockx, a former junior World No. 1 who won the 2023 Australian Open boys’ singles title (d. Learner Tien in the final), is beginning to come into his own as a professional in 2026.

The Belgian has now notched three Top 20 wins on clay this season, highlighted by a 7-6(8), 6-2 victory over Francisco Cerundolo on Tuesday in Madrid.

With the win, Blockx became the youngest Belgian ever to reach a Masters 1000 quarterfinal—and the first from his country to reach the last eight in Madrid since David Goffin in 2017.

He also improved to 8-3 on the season and climbed to No. 46 in the live rankings, putting him on track to make his Top 50 debut next week.

The 21-year-old had already turned heads earlier in the tournament, defeating World No. 5 Felix Auger-Aliassime for his first career Top 5 win in the third round. He also scored a win over No. 16 Flavio Cobolli in Monte-Carlo earlier this month.

Against Cerundolo, Blockx showed composure under pressure. He saved four set points in the opening set—three on serve at 5-6, and another in the tiebreak—before taking control of the match.

“I had a couple of break points in the first set—at 3-all, at 5-all,” he said after the win, which set up a quarterfinal clash with Casper Ruud. “I played way too passive. Against players like Francisco, you have no chance—he’s going to punish you every time.”

Blockx said early struggles against Cerundolo ultimately worked in his favor, forcing him to raise his level and play more aggressively.

“It kind of got me pumped,” he said. “I was a bit frustrated, but every time I was set point down, I stayed calm and managed to put in a big serve. To be honest, in the first set I got a bit lucky. Then in the second set, I had the momentum, got an early break, and felt like his energy dropped.”

The Antwerp native, 6’4” with a Grade-A serve, saved all eight break points he faced and won 81 percent of his first-serve points in the match.

He credits his recent run of high-level matches for helping him better manage the pressure of big moments.

“I’ve had a couple of big matches in the last few weeks, so I’m handling them better,” he said. “I can still improve in managing important moments, but for now, it’s working pretty well.”

Tomorrow’s tilt against the defending champion will be yet another chance for Blockx to show the top of the tour that he is a worthy adversary.