Felix Auger-Aliassime arrived in Madrid searching for clay-court form. On Thursday, the Canadian showed he has found it.

The eighth seed defeated 10th seed Jannik Sinner 6-1, 6-2 in just 80 minutes to reach the quarter-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open. It was the first ATP Head2Head clash between the two ascending stars. The win lifted the Canadian to No. 9 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

“Me playing really well and him missing a few more balls than he should on top of that, I think it just created a big difference,” Auger-Aliassime said.

Auger-Aliassime has lost just six games against two tough opponents in Sinner and clay-court stalwart Cristian Garin (6-3, 6-0). He will next play second seed Alexander Zverev for a place in his first clay-court ATP Masters 1000 semi-final.

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Sinner, one of the most powerful ball-strikers on Tour, controls play against nearly all his opponents. But Auger-Aliassime dominated on serve, winning 90 per cent of his first-serve points and going through all eight of his service games without facing a break point.

According to Tennis Data Innovations, Auger-Aliassime converted 83 per cent of the points in which he was in an offensive position. And when Sinner did find himself on offence, the Canadian showed good defensive skills and “stole” 52 per cent of those points. The ATP Tour average for conversion rate on clay is 65 per cent.

The match’s Balance of Power shows that Auger-Aliassime was on offence 27 per cent of the time compared to just 20 per cent for Sinner (Learn more about Balance of Power and Conversion & Steal scores).

Match Insights:

The 21-year-old’s next opponent, Zverev, is into a fifth consecutive quarter-final at the Caja Magica after Lorenzo Musetti was forced to retire from the pair’s third-round clash at the ATP Masters 1000 event on Thursday.

Defending champion Zverev led 6-3, 1-0 in what had been a high-quality first ATP Head2Head meeting between the two when a thigh injury to 20-year-old Musetti intervened in Arantxa Sanchez Stadium.

The World No. 3 led the #NextGenATP Italian after converting the only two break points of the first set in the seventh and ninth games. Zverev now holds a 17-2 record in Madrid, where the fast conditions suit his big-serving and high-powered game. Although the German had to dig deep in his three-set win over former World No. 3 Marin Cilic in the second round, second-seeded Zverev looked in impressive touch against Musetti and will eye another deep run in the Spanish capital as he hunts a sixth Masters 1000 crown.

Zverev’s opponent in his 23rd Masters 1000 quarter-final will be eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or 10th seed Jannik Sinner.

Rafael Nadal once again showcased his legendary fighting spirit to bounce back from the brink of both victory and defeat Thursday at the Mutua Madrid Open. After David Goffin saved two match points in the second set, Nadal erased four for his opponent in a decisive tie-break to advance by the finest of margins, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(9), in three hours and nine minutes.

One night after he was in the stands for Real Madrid’s great escape in the Champions League semi-finals, Nadal performed his own bit of magic at the Caja Magica. It has been a 24 hours to remember for Spanish supporters, with the 35-year-old home favourite getting the Manolo Santana Stadium rocking like Madrid’s Santago Bernabeu Stadium, sending fans from stunned silence to delirium in a matter of moments.

“It was an unforgettable night. The spirit that the Real Madrid team has is just incredible,” Nadal said after his victory. “For me today, in some ways it has been an inspiration in the way I have been fighting all my tennis career.

“Honestly, it was a very tough match. I think I played at a very high level. But at the same time I am not completely happy because I have to finish the match in straight sets, without a doubt.”

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Nadal saved two of Goffin’s four match points with drop shots, and a third when the Belgian netted a short forehand from an attacking position. By winning the decider, Nadal extended his perfect Madrid tie-break record to 10-0 since the event moved to clay in 2009. He also prevented Goffin from becoming the fourth man to beat him from match point down on clay, with the last instance coming in Buenos Aires in 2016 against Dominic Thiem.

“Three hours and 10 [minutes] on court, that helps to increase my physical performance,” Nadal added. “A very important victory, saving match points. That’s confidence, that gives me the chance to keep going. I need matches and I need a day like to day to be fitter sooner.”

After coming through a rocky opening set, Nadal redlined early in the second and looked on course for a straightforward victory in Manolo Santana Stadium. But as the Spaniard’s game dipped slightly at closing time, Goffin played some of his best tennis of the match to extend the contest, winning four straight games from 3-5.

The tense final set seemed destined for a tie-break, and the drama only increased in a frantic finish. Nadal was left standing when Goffin went wide on the Spaniard’s fourth match point — and second of the tie-break.

More than three hours earlier, Nadal took the court seeking a record-tying 37th ATP Masters 1000 title but quickly found himself down an early break in Manolo Santana Stadium. But from 2-3, he managed to win the final four games of the opening set in spite of some uncharacteristic errors.

Nadal took command of the match with a pristine eight-point stretch to start set two. After Goffin battled through deuce to hold in the opening game, Nadal found a new level to hold then break at love. The Spaniard began to attack with more pop and precision on his groundstrokes, firing winners off both wings as he began is ascent. The first real signal of intent came on a lasered down-the-line backhand which helped him get on the board in the stanza.

The third seed was cruising on serve in the second until three loose errors gave Goffin a look at 4-5. The Belgian took full advantage to force a decider, but could not get over the line against Nadal, who advanced to a record-extending 99th ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final and a 16th in Madrid. 

Nadal has now done his part to set up an all-Spanish quarter-final against Carlos Alcaraz, who will follow him on the stadium court against ninth seed Cameron Norrie. Nadal beat his countryman in the Madrid second round last year before making it 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head with a three-set win in the Indian Wells semi-finals.

Nadal is also undefeated against Norrie at 4-0, including a straight-sets win in the Acapulco final in February.

ATP has announced Pepperstone, the award-winning Melbourne-based FX and CFD broker, as the global naming partner of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and Official Online Trading Partner of the ATP Tour.

The agreement sees Pepperstone join the Tour as Platinum Partner with a global on-site presence at 11 events across the ATP Tour season, culminating at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. Pepperstone will also receive year-round promotion via ATP’s social, digital and broadcast channels, delivering worldwide exposure to the brand and its innovative trading products.

The partnership kicks off today with the launch of a brand-new product — the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings — a dynamic new feature enabling fans, players and media to track the real-time rankings and impact of match results day-to-day. The partnership launches ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 2023.

First launched in August 1973, the Pepperstone ATP Rankings serve as a true measure of excellence and the official mechanism determining player standings, tournament entries and seedings in men’s professional tennis. A key barometer for player records and milestones, the Pepperstone ATP Rankings also provide a narrative that connects every level of the men’s professional game throughout the season.

In addition to the Rankings, Pepperstone also becomes the naming partner of the season-long Race To Turin, Race To Milan, the ATP Cup Standings, as well as presenting partner of the official year-end No.1 ceremonies in singles and doubles.

Massimo Calvelli, ATP CEO, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Pepperstone to our family of global partners and to celebrate the moment with the launch of the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. In line with Pepperstone’s award-winning customer service, the ATP is always looking for new ways to improve the experience of our millions of fans around the world, and the launch of the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings is a landmark moment that will help elevate our storytelling and create new opportunities to engage with the ATP Tour every day of the season.”

Tamas Szabo, Pepperstone Group CEO, said: “We are tremendously excited to enter into this ground-breaking partnership, becoming the first and Official Online Trading Partner of the ATP Tour. Tennis and trading have a few things in common – preparation, access to information, experience and ultimately the right decision at critical moments.

“ATP Tour’s global footprint and enormous following will enable us to bring the world’s financial markets to astute, adventurous traders around the world, driving our vision to create a better way to trade.”

Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings will link match-by-match results to projected positional moves in the traditional Pepperstone ATP Rankings, immediately contextualising what a big victory – or defeat – means to a player’s standing relative to his rivals.

Updated following the completion of each match, Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings reflect real-time points added and dropped by players, who will dynamically rise and fall based on their most recent result. Fans and media will no longer have to wait until the weekly Pepperstone ATP Rankings are run to understand the impact of matches won and lost.

Pepperstone ATP Rankings will continue to be used for tournament entry and seedings and to recognise achievements and milestones with historical context. For example, a player must spend at least one week at No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings to be considered a World No. 1.

The introduction of the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings marks the most significant addition to the ATP’s Rankings properties since the 2000 introduction of the calendar-year Race, helping track players’ journeys to qualify for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. It comes as part of a wider push to enhance functionality of the ATP Tour’s digital platforms, and continually level-up the fan experience across the tennis ecosystem. Visit Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. To learn more about how they work, visit our FAQ page.

Stefanos Tsitsipas showed why he is one of the men to beat on the European clay with an assured start to his Mutua Madrid Open campaign on Wednesday evening. The Greek improved to 8-1 on the surface this season with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over French wild card Lucas Pouille. With the win, he became the first man to record 25 ATP Tour match wins on the year.

“It was good magic, a fair amount of magic dust,” Tsitsipas said of his victory at the Caja Magica. “A great start at the beginning of this tournament.”

The fourth seed faced just one break point on the night, when he surrendered serve in between a pair of breaks in an eventful middle period of the opening set. He left no doubt in set two, following an early break with a love hold to open up a decisive advantage.

Outside of the game in which Pouille broke at love, Tsitsipas dominated on serve. He won 94 per cent (31/33) of his first deliveries, including seven aces, with the last one coming on match point.

Tsitsipas also owned the Balance of Power battle on Manolo Santana Stadium, playing 30% of his shots in attack compared to 22% for his opponent. (Learn more about Balance of Power.)

Pouille, who broke into the Top 10 in 2018, entered the match in good form after a straight-sets win over Karen Khachanov. But Tsitsipas proved to be on a different level in the one-hour, eight-minute contest. The World No. 174 Frenchman was seeking to equal the best win of his career by ATP Ranking against the World No. 5.

Tsitsipas, who is 31-6 on clay since the start of 2021 with three titles in five finals, advances to face Grigor Dimitrov in the last 16. The Bulgarian was a 6-0, 6-3 winner over Diego Schwartzman earlier on Wednesday.

Speaking about that impeccable clay-court record, Tsitsipas explained that he prefers to keep his focus on the present: “I don’t really think about this stuff, to be honest with you,” he said.

“I’ve had good runs in the past. I’ve played well on this surface but every single day is a different challenge. Everyone wants to go out there and play the best they can against me, so I’m just going to try to play consistently as much as I can.”

Spanish doubles star Marc Lopez played the final match of his storied career on Wednesday in front of his home fans at the Caja Magica.

Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, who lead the ATP Doubles Team Rankings, defeated Lopez and countryman Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 to reach the quarter-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open. The Dutch-British tandem is 25-7 on the season and chasing a fourth title of 2022.

^{Photo Credit: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour}
Koolhof and Skupski will next play Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic, who upset fourth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-6. 

Lopez finishes his career with 14 tour-level doubles titles and a 310-245 record. The 39-year-old earlier this year became a member of close friend Rafal Nadal’s coaching team. Nadal had high praise for Lopez on Wednesday.

“We know Marc has a unique talent. This is a reality, and he has worked for it,” Nadal said. “All the merit to him, all the merit to what has happened to him for different reasons. First of all because he’s a very good person, above anything else.

“It’s always good that good things happen to good people. He’s a good person. In that regard, I think that he has achieved things that no other people had achieved in doubles in this country.”

In other doubles action, Miami champions Hubert Hurkacz and John Isner ousted fellow singles stars Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-4. They will next face top seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury or two-time Roland Garros titlists Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies.

Jamie Murray and Michael Venus also advanced to the last eight with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Cameron Norrie and Tommy Paul. Murray typically partners Bruno Soares and Venus plays alongside Tim Puetz.