Casper Ruud, the reigning champion of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid, was unable to defend his crown after falling in the quarterfinals.
The Norwegian, seeded 12th, suffered a straight-sets defeat to Belgium’s Alexander Blockx, ranked 69th in the world, with a score of 4-6, 4-6.
Blockx will now face the winner of the quarterfinal match between Flavio Cobolli of Italy and Alexander Zverev of Germany.
Ruud, currently ranked 15th in the world, has 14 ATP titles to his name. He won the Madrid Open in 2025 by defeating Great Britain’s Jack Draper in the final.
The Madrid tournament, with a prize fund of over €8.2 million, is set to conclude on May 3.