04/28 Madrid Open

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Today is Tuesday, April 28, in Madrid it's 08:30 and it's 12 degrees. Ok, let's go.

Today on the menu

• 🇧🇾 Sabalenka comes back against Osaka through virus and fear, into the quarters
• 🇩🇪 Zverev resists Atmane and seals his ninth round of 16 in nine appearances at Madrid
• 🇳🇴 Ruud demolishes Davidovich, the title defense rolls on without effort
• 🇺🇸 Baptiste beats Bencic in two hours and forty-three, second consecutive WTA 1000 quarterfinal
• 🇬🇷 Tsitsipas moves forward again by beating Merida.

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

🇧🇾 Sabalenka comes back against Osaka

Aryna Sabalenka beat Naomi Osaka 6-7(1) 6-3 6-2 in two hours and twenty after being down a set and a break, and after spending the day talking about a gastrointestinal virus that in Madrid is by now affecting half the draw. The world number one spoke in her press conference with rare self-irony - a diet of chicken breast, rice and salad - and on court she found a way to win when the match seemed already filed away.

In the first set Osaka had played one of the cleanest tiebreaks of recent seasons, 7-1, and in the second she had gone up a break. From there on, however, Aryna started to reduce the errors on the backhand side and to lift her first serve, and Naomi stopped finding those millimeters that had let her build the lead. It's the kind of match that, mid-tournament, says better than many others where a title defense really stands.

🇩🇪 Zverev survives Atmane

Alexander Zverev beat Terence Atmane 6-3 7-6(2) in an hour and thirty-seven, and with this win he records his ninth round of 16 in nine appearances at Madrid. The score says a controlled match, but the ending tells another story: at 5-3 in the second set Sascha went to serve for the match and got broken, then managed to take back the decisive break in the tiebreak with two deep returns on the Frenchman's forehand.

For forty minutes Atmane looked like the player capable of creating the bigger problem, especially when his serve started to land, but it's also the phase of his career in which closing certain endings is still an open exercise. For Zverev it's the kind of match that at Madrid, in the past, he has always known how to handle: a surface that keeps speaking his language, even when the tennis isn't from his best days.

🇳🇴 Ruud crushes Davidovich

Casper Ruud beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 6-1 in just over an hour, continuing the title defense without dropping a set and confirming himself as the most in-form player in the tournament after the early rounds. The Norwegian put seven straight games behind the line, and from the opening break of the second set the Spaniard essentially stopped finding answers to the high topspin balls Casper drives over the line.

A performance that says a lot about the difference between those who have truly understood this surface and those who, in Madrid, only manage to find rhythm in patches. In the quarters Ruud will face Tsitsipas, and the fact that mid-tournament the defending champion has spent so little energy is starting to be one of the less-told stories of this week.

🇺🇸 Baptiste takes down Bencic in three sets

Hailey Baptiste beat Belinda Bencic 6-1 6-7(14) 6-3 in two hours and forty-three minutes, with a second set that will go down as one of the longest tiebreaks of the year: 16-14 in favor of the Swiss, after the American had had several match points. For Baptiste it's the second consecutive WTA 1000 quarterfinal and the confirmation of a spring in which she has managed to beat Paolini in the third round and now a player like Bencic in a finish that would have broken many others' legs.

What strikes you, more than the score, is the way she reopened the third set: an immediate break to start, serve held with authority, an attitude that didn't betray the hours already spent on court. In the quarters she now meets Sabalenka, and a match like this, won after missing several match points, may have left her with something bigger than just a quarterfinal. Or it may have taken everything from her. We'll only find out tonight.

🇬🇷 Tsitsipas dispatches Merida

Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Daniel Merida 6-4 6-2 in just over an hour on the Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, handling the Spanish qualifier without strain. The Greek's positive run in Madrid continues, after the clean win over Bublik: two matches in which the backhand has come back to support the forehand, and in which winning serves have for the first time this season passed a certain threshold.

It's the kind of week Stefanos has needed for a long time. In the quarters he now meets Ruud, and the matchup with the defending champion will tell us whether Madrid is really becoming the tournament of his comeback or whether, as has happened other times in the last two years, the level will drop again just as the stakes rise.

WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY:

• Sinner vs Norrie (ATP) - Opens the Manolo Santana at 11:00. Round of 16 for Jannik, who after the tough first set against Bonzi gradually found his rhythm: against the Brit, solid tennis but without big sparks, on paper there should be enough margin to handle this without spending too much.
• Musetti vs Lehecka (ATP) - On the Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the afternoon. Lorenzo arrives off a good performance against Griekspoor, against the Czech who in Madrid is playing one of the best tournaments of his season: a round of 16 worth more than the bracket suggests.
• Jodar vs Kopriva (ATP) - Not before 16:00 on the Manolo. The Spaniard continues the tournament that's changing his career: the Czech has come this far also taking advantage of Rinderknech's retirement in the third round, but the home crowd could weigh as much as an extra break.
• Sabalenka vs Baptiste (WTA) - Night session on the Manolo, not before 20:00. Quarterfinal between the world number one, coming off the two-hour battle with Osaka, and the American who has just beaten Bencic in a marathon of nearly three hours.
• Tsitsipas vs Ruud (ATP) - Round of 16 on the Arantxa, in the second part of the program. The defending champion against the Greek who in Madrid is going back to playing his best tennis: a match that tells two opposite paths inside the same tournament.

Read more

• Sabalenka avoids Madrid Open virus scare and Osaka upset
• Coco Gauff falls to Linda Noskova in three-set thriller
• Alexander Zverev survives late Terence Atmane twist, makes it 9 straight in Madrid
• Hailey Baptiste stuns Bencic in 2h43 Madrid epic
• Madrid Open 2026 Day Six Recap
• Tuesday, April 28 schedule at Mutua Madrid Open 2026

Have a good breakfast and a good day.

See you tomorrow at 08:30 with TIE-Breakfast