Thirty-two wins and counting for Daniil Medvedev in 2023.

Not even the move to his less-favoured clay has stopped the 27-year-old from racking up victories on the ATP Tour. Following his quarter-final run in Monte-Carlo, Medvedev made a rock-solid start to his Mutua Madrid Open campaign on Saturday with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori.

Medvedev stayed patient against the World No. 164 Vavassori, notching a late break of serve in each set to complete an 82-minute triumph. Vavassori had claimed the biggest win of his career against Andy Murray in the first round at the Caja Magica, but the second-seeded Medvedev’s combination of huge serving and relentless baseline hitting proved a step too far for the Italian.

“I played well today. I felt [good],” said Medvedev, who saved all three break points he faced in his second-round win. “There were some tight moments in the match, but when we had rallies from the baseline, I felt like many times I was in control. I’m really happy about my level.”

With the win, Medvedev improved to 2-3 in Madrid, where he also reached the third round in 2021. Despite frequently acknowledging he does not feel his most comfortable on clay, the 19-time tour-level titlist hopes his opening victory can be the foundation for a bigger run in the Spanish capital.

“I just want to play my best,” said Medvedev. “Sure, everyone is saying here I should like it a little bit more than other clay courts because the serve goes a bit faster, the court is faster. So far I haven’t done well in Madrid, but today was a great match and I just hope for more matches like this in the next two weeks.”

The World No. 3 Medvedev is now 32-4 for the year. He is chasing his fifth tour-level trophy of the season in Madrid, where he now prepares for a third-round clash against another qualifier, Alexander Shevchenko.

Shevchenko backed up his first-round win against J.J. Wolf in Madrid in style by dismantling the 31st seed Jiri Lehecka 6-1, 6-1. The 22-year-old converted all five break points he earned and powered 24 winners in his 45-minute victory as he reached the third round on his ATP Masters 1000 main-draw debut.

The fast-rising Shevchenko has already won two ATP Challenger Tour events (including one in Madrid earlier this month) in 2023 and broke the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time on 17 April.

Five Top 10 seeds will open their Mutua Madrid Open campaigns on Saturday at the ATP Masters 1000, with the second round of singles action to be completed on Day 4 of main-draw play.

Two men’s matches feature on Manolo Santana Stadium, with Stefanos Tsitsipas meeting Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev facing Andrea Vavassori. Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz and Denis Shapovalov highlight the ATP Tour action on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium, while a busy doubles slate sees each of the top three seeds in their first action of the week.

ATPTour.com breaks down some of the biggest matchups on Saturday’s schedule across the men’s singles draw and men’s doubles draw.

[4] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. Dominic Thiem (AUT)

The past two meetings between Tsitsipas and Thiem both came at the Nitto ATP Finals — in the 2019 final, won in a third-set tie-break by Tsitsipas, and the 2020 group stage, when Thiem won in three sets. Thiem leads their overall ATP Head2Head 5-3, with their history including five meetings in 2018.

But the familiar foes have not squared off since their November 2020 meeting in the London season finale. After Thiem beat Kyle Edmund 6-4, 6-1 to set up this marquee matchup, the Austrian was excited to renew the rivalry.

“I am looking forward to that one a lot,” he said of their second-round meeting. “I like him a lot. He is an unbelievable player, I like watching his matches. He is very elegant. We’ve had some great matchups.”

Thiem is hoping to build on reaching two quarter-finals in his past three events (Estoril, Munich), while Tsitsipas aims to stay hot after reaching the final last week in Barcelona. The Greek is rounding into form following a post-Australian Open dip in which he did not win more than two matches at four straight tournaments.

“I consider myself a candidate for this tournament in terms of having good results,” Tsitsipas said of his chances in Madrid. “The run I had in Barcelona brought me joy because after the Australian Open I didn’t go deep in tournaments. Now I’ve had a first glimpse of what it is to be strong again. Things are looking pretty bright.”

Both Tsitsipas and Thiem have excelled on clay courts throughout their careers, with Tsitsipas winning three titles on the surface to Thiem’s 10. At their best, both can win with consistency or power from the baseline behind heavy ground strokes. A key tactical component to this match will be how often Tsitsipas uses his all-court game to attack the net, and how well Thiem can fend off those approaches with his trademark, vicious passing shots.

[2] Daniil Medvedev vs. Andrea Vavassori (ITA)

Daniil Medvedev entered the European clay swing as the hottest player on the ATP Tour, winning four of five tournaments — including his maiden title in Miami — and reaching the final in Indian Wells. While his run of consecutive finals came to an end in Monte-Carlo, Medvedev picked up two quality wins against Lorenzo Sonego and Alexander Zverev before falling to eventual finalist Holger Rune.

He again opens opposite an Italian this week in Andrea Vavassori, who beat Andy Murray 6-2, 7-6(7) on Thursday. The 27-year-old qualified for the Madrid main draw after reaching the quarter-finals or better at four straight ATP Challenger Tour events coming into the week.

After beating Murray to mark his ATP Masters 1000 main-draw debut, the Italian will hope his four matches on the Madrid clay serve him in good stead against Medvedev, who is competing in the Spanish capital for the first time since 2021.

Medvedev has just one match win in three Madrid appearances, but feels the unique conditions at the event give him a good chance of success this week.

“It’s definitely different. I would say it’s a little bit like Roland Garros clay where it’s kind of on a harder surface,” Medvedev said of the surface. “Also altitude, so the balls are flying. What I see from results of many people, I should be able to actually play better here than other clay court tournaments. So far, I was not able to do it. But every year is a new opportunity. This year is another one, and I’m going to try to just play my best and hopefully play some good tennis.”

[8] Taylor Fritz vs. Christopher O’Connell (AUS)

Fritz has also flashed his clay-court credentials this season, reaching consecutive semi-finals in Monte-Carlo and Munich. He picked up his first Top 10 win on the surface by beating two-time defending champion Tsitsipas in the Monte-Carlo quarters, becoming the first American man to reach the Monaco semi-finals in 20 years.

Australia’s Christopher O’Connell also enters Madrid on the back of two straight semi-finals, the first in Split on the ATP Challenger Tour and the second last week in Munich.

Both competitors have been in some of the best form of their careers this season. Fritz reached a career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 5 in February, becoming the first American to hit the mark since Andy Roddick, while O’Connell reached a career high of World No. 78 last November and currently sits three points shy of that mark.

Also In Action…

In addition to the Fritz vs. O’Connell matchup, two more ATP contests will feature on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium. Auger-Aliassime will open his campaign against Dusan Lajovic, with the seventh seed seeking his first win in three tries against the Serbian, who last week defeated Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev en route to the Banja Luka title. Later in the day on Madrid’s second stage, Shapovalov will face China’s Zhang Zhizhen for the first time.

On Stadium 3, ninth seed Frances Tiafoe meets Tomas Martin Etcheverry and 11th seed Cameron Norrie faces Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki. Tiafoe and Paul were doubles opponents on Friday, with Tiafoe and Fritz beating Norrie and Tommy Paul in a Match Tie-break.

All three of the top doubles seeds will see their first action on Friday as well. Top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski face Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz, second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury meet Jamie Murray and Michael Venus, and third seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek take on Simone Bolelli and Fabrice Martin.

Alexander Zverev completed a stunning turnaround at the Mutua Madrid Open late Friday night and into the early hours of Saturday morning to continue his history of success at the ATP Masters 1000.

The 13th-seeded German pulled away late in a 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-0 victory against home favourite Roberto Carballes Baena, winning eight straight games to survive a stern opening test. Spain’s Carballes Baena led 4-3, 30/0 in the second set but lost 10 of the last 11 games as Zverev found a new level late on.

“[It was a] very important match for me, especially after the struggles in three-set matches this year,” the German said after leaving the court. “I think it was one or two points that decided the match and I’m obviously very happy with how it went.”

Zverev, who took a medical timeout for treatment on his left leg midway through the opening set, has dropped seven places to No. 23 this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings after losing the points he earned from reaching last year’s Madrid final. Champion at the event in 2018 an 2021, he has reached the quarter-finals or better in each of his previous five appearances in the Spanish capital.

He will next face French qualifier Hugo Grenier, a 7-6(5), 7-6(7) winner against Sebastian Korda earlier on Friday. The winner of that match will face either Carlos Alcaraz or Grigor Dimitrov in the last 16.

“I’m just looking forward to being back, playing these kind of matches, playing in the bigger stadiums,” Zverev added. “Especially here, I’ve said it before, this is my absolute favourite court in the whole world. We’ll see how it goes.”

Carballes Baena claimed the opening set against Zverev despite failing to convert on seven break chances. He troubled Zverev with depth and width, and moved within two games of victory when a majestic, flicked winner off his opponent’s overhead clinched the first break of the match.

But Zverev disrupted the pattern of the match to that point to to turn the match around in the nick of time. Finding more purchase off his backhand wing and attacking the net with repeated success, the German flipped the match on its head to run away with victory.

With nearly three hours on the clock after the second set, the matchup seemed destined to break the record for longest best-of-three-set contest in 2023. But Zverev raced through the final set to close out the match in three hours, 25 minutes — that time falling shy of the three hours, 31 minutes of play in Hubert Hurkacz’s second-round win against Thanasi Kokkinakis in the Miami second round.

Holger Rune fought off a brilliant serving display from Alexander Bublik to continue his impressive start to the clay season on Friday and make a winning debut at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Dane opened his campaign at the ATP Masters 1000 with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(9) victory, converting on his fifth match point to claim his second final-set tie-break in as many matches.

Rune saved a match point at 7/8 in the tie-break and clinched victory with a second-serve ace after Bublik missed when going for a big second serve at 9/9. He also saved four match points against Botic van de Zandschulp in Sunday’s Munich final.

“Honestly I’m out of words right now. It was such a tough match,” Rune said after the gutsy win in Madrid. “In these kind of conditions, it’s altitude, it’s very fast compared to what I’ve played so far.

“Bublik, we all know how he’s playing. He’s playing super aggressive, taking the ball aggressive and early. So I had to really dig deep and find solutions. I was brave at the end and that’s what made the difference.”

The result extended Rune’s winning streak to five matches after his successful Munich title defence last week; the 19-year-old (who turns 20 on Saturday) is 8-1 on clay this month dating back to his run to the Monte-Carlo final. His Monte-Carlo success lifted him to a career high of No. 7 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, a position he has maintained since then.

After improving to 9-1 in opening matches this season, he will next face 29th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who beat fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 6-4 earlier on Friday.

After using his all-court game to dominate the opening set, Rune was dragged into a big-serving shootout with the Kazakh. There was just one break point across the final two sets, with Bublik taking it early in second set.

“I just had to focus on myself, try to do everything I can because when he puts those serves in, it’s just too good sometimes,” Rune said after scoring his first ATP Head2Head win against Bublik.

Short points were the standard for much of the match, but two highlight-reel exchanges came in the final game as Bublik held to force a decisive tie-break. After Rune showcased his touch with a devilish drop shot in reply to a drop shot from his opponent, Bublik won a 23-ball rally on game point, following another drop shot with a volleyed lob to leave the Dane stranded.

Rune nearly wrapped up the tie-break on his second match point at 6/5, but was denied by a brilliant pickup volley. A few points after erasing Bublik’s match point with a big serve, forehand and overhead, the Dane used a kick serve out wide on the ad-court to seal the win. He finished with 34 winners and 12 unforced errors in the two-hour, four-minute match.

With his defeat, Bublik drops to 5-15 on the 2023 season – though his performances in two Madrid three-setters will give him belief for the rest of the clay-court season.

“One, two, three…”

After a coin toss gone awry, Andrey Rublev and Stan Wawrinka found a fun way to replace the pre-match ritual and decide who would call the first serve in their Mutua Madrid Open second-round match on Friday afternoon.

Rublev suggested a game of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ at the net on Manolo Santana Stadium after confusion about the options on the electronically generated coin toss. With ATP Chair Umpire Mohamed Lahyani laughing along with the players, Wawrinka’s ‘Scissors’ cut through Rublev’s ‘Paper’ and the Swiss star opted to serve.

Rublev recovered from his ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ defeat in style. The World No. 6, who is chasing his second ATP Masters 1000 title after his triumph in Monte-Carlo 12 days ago, went on to defeat Wawrinka 7-5, 6-4.

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz survived a major scare at the Mutua Madrid Open Friday when he moved past Emil Ruusuvuori 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the third round in the Spanish capital.

“It was really tough. I would say I was about to lose,” Alcaraz said. “It was just one point. One of the break points he had at 2-3 in the second set was like a match point for him. I was really happy I was able to save that game and come back a bit. It was really tough. Emil played unbelievably, but I am really, really happy to get through that.”

The Spaniard defeated Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev en route to the title in Madrid last year, but didn’t have things all his own way against the clean-hitting Finn in his opening match at this year’s event.

After losing the first set, the 19-year-old dug deep in the second set, saving all five break points he faced before levelling the match. Roared on by a vocal home crowd inside Manolo Santana Stadium, Alcaraz raised his level in the third set. He reduced errors, used the drop shot effectively and demonstrated incredible agility to produce moments of magic and triumph after two hours and 16 minutes.

“When I got it to 3-3 in the second set, I thought that this is my chance,” Alcaraz said. “I tried to take that. I was really, really focused. I was trying to put every ball in and running for every ball. Playing with a good attitude the whole match, I was able to come back.”

With his 24th tour-level win of the season, Alcaraz improved to 1-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against Ruusuvuori, avenging his defeat to the 24-year-old in Miami in 2021. Alcaraz will next face Grigor Dimitrov at the clay-court event.

2023 Infosys ATP Stats Match-Win Leaders

“It was tough for me to get used to the conditions,” Alcaraz said. “There is so much altitude here, the ball bounces a lot. I am not going to use excuses. Emil was better than me until 3-3 in the second set. Hitting the ball with no mistakes, serving well with a lot of rhythm and I could not follow his rhythm. It was tough for me to stay with him. But I am happy to come back and finish with a lot of confidence.”

Alcaraz is chasing his 10th tour-level title and fourth ATP Masters 1000 crown this fortnight. Earlier this year he triumphed on clay in Buenos Aires and Barcelona, while he won the title on hard in Indian Wells.

The top seed can also boost his World No. 1 hopes with a deep run in Madrid. If Alcaraz successfully defends his title he is guaranteed to pass Djokovic in top spot on 22 May just by playing his first match at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, regardless of how Djokovic performs there.

Ruusuvuori, who was making his Madrid debut, was aiming to earn his third Top 10 win. The World No. 41 produced relentless and aggressive tennis throughout large periods of the clash, but was unable to maintain his level at crucial moments. He leaves Madrid 14-12 on the season.

Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov made a winning start at the Mutua Madrid Open Friday when they defeated last year’s finalists Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-6(5), 7-6(2) to reach the second round.

Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov, who reached the quarter-finals together in Miami earlier this season, remained patient throughout the one-hour, 53-minute clash. The Canadians squandered all 10 break points they earned but raised their level in both tie-breaks to advance. They will next meet sixth seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara.

Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe triumphed in the Top-20 singles battle on Friday when they clawed past Cameron Norrie and Tommy Paul 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 to reach the second round.

In a highly-anticipated doubles clash, it was the Americans Fritz and Tiafoe who held their nerve. The pair won 85 per cent (28/33) of their first-service points and rallied from 6/7 in the Match Tie-break to advance after 85 minutes at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Teaming for the first time this week, Fritz and Tiafoe will next face Greek wild cards Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas or fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer.

The 2021 finalists Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic also advanced, defeating Sebastian Baez and Australian Open doubles champion Jason Kubler 6-3, 5-7, 10-6.

The ATP has announced Tour-wide adoption of Electronic Line Calling Live (ELC Live) from 2025. The advanced officiating technology covers all court lines for ‘out’ calls throughout matches, a role traditionally carried out by on-court line judges.

This significant officiating update follows several seasons during which a combination of ELC Live, ELC Review and on-court line judges has been used at ATP Tour events. The move is set to optimise accuracy and consistency across tournaments, match courts and surfaces, for players competing in both main draw and qualifying events. The decision was supported by extensive research conducted by ATP across tennis stakeholders, including fans, which identified accuracy and consistency as the most important factors in assessing different line-calling systems.

All-court ELC Live coverage will also deliver comprehensive player and ball tracking across the whole Tour, leading to an unprecedented level of data for player-performance analysis and the development of new statistics in the game in collaboration with Tennis Data Innovations (TDI), in addition to future commercialisation opportunities.

Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman, said: “This is a landmark moment for our sport, and not one we’ve reached without careful consideration. Tradition is core to tennis and line judges have played an important part in the game over the years. That said, we have a responsibility to embrace innovation and new technologies. Our sport deserves the most accurate form of officiating and we’re delighted to be able to deliver this across our whole Tour from 2025.”

ELC Live was first trialled at the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2017 in Milan as part of a raft of ambitious technological innovations, several of which have gone on to be implemented on the main Tour. In recent years, the system has been available for tournaments on a voluntary basis, becoming widely adopted since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Multiple suppliers are currently approved to provide ELC Live technology on hard court and on grass, while final testing is underway for clay. It is anticipated that multiple different suppliers will be approved across the various court surfaces from 2025.