Carreno Busta Earns First Madrid Open Victory In A Decade

Pablo Carreno Busta
Pablo Carreno Busta (photo: Mateo Villalba/MMO)

MADRID/WASHINGTON, April 23, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

Former World No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain earned his first win at the Mutua Madrid Open in 10 years on Thursday. So, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the 34-year-old from Gijon, now ranked 94th and entered with a wild card, was in a celebratory mood after rallying to defeat Marton Fucsovics of Hungary, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, in two hours and 27 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium. It was Carreno Busta’s first Madrid victory since 2016.

Carreno Busta arrived in Madrid for the year’s second ATP Masters 1000 on red clay following a 9-2 run on home soil across all levels. He recently won the Murcia Challenger title and reached the final of the Alicante Challenger before having to retire in Barcelona qualifying due to a back issue.

Against the 54th-ranked Fucsovics, who was looking to win his first match on clay this season, Carreno Busta came alive after a shaky beginning and played solidly when it mattered the most in the final two sets. He won 75 percent (44 of 59) of his first-serve points, hit 32 winners to 28 unforced errors, converted three of seven break-point chances, and outpointed Fucsovics 99-84 to earn his first ATP Masters 1000 win on clay since defeating Federico Delbonis at Rome in 2022.

“I’m very, very satisfied. It was a very important match to me,” Carreno Busta said during an on-court interview, after winning just his second Madrid match in 10 total outings. “I want to thank the tournament for giving the opportunity to me to play in this tournament again, in the main draw with a wild card. It’s a big opportunity for me to be back on this center court in front of my people, in front of my crowd. 

“I’m very happy because it was a tough beginning – he was playing very solid. In the second set, I tried to be more aggressive and it was good.”

Carreno Busta missed more than a year of play during the 2023 and 2024 seasons after dealing with chronic tendonitis in his right elbow, which required surgery. Now that he’s healthy again, Carreno Busta is cherishing his good fortunes on the tennis court.

“There were a lot of tough moments for me. Sometimes, I thought my career was ending,” he admitted. “Now, I am back again, playing a lot of tournaments in a row to get the rhythm, to get the confidence. In my career, I always value these moments, these matches.”

Later, during an interview with Tennis Channel‘s Mark Petchey, Carreno Busta was asked to describe his goals going forward for the rest of the season.

“The most important goal [for me] is to be on court, to be on court playing healthy,” he said. “After that, I would like to improve my ranking [to play in main draws].”

Next, Carreno Busta will face fellow Spaniard and 20th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round. The 24th-0ranked Davidovich Fokina is the only seeded Spaniard of the seven who are featured in the 96-player main draw.

Good day overall for Spaniards at Caja Magica

While Pablo Carreno Busta won his first Madrid Open match in a decade, there were others spread across Caja Magica on the second day, who fared well and reached the second round.

Among them were: No. 38 Jaume Munar, who eliminated 82nd-ranked Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan, 6-4, 6-1, in one hour and 18 minutes on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium to advance against No. 12 seed and defending champion Casper Ruud of Norway. It was Munar’s first win since reaching the quarterfinal round at Rotterdam in February. He was off tour with an arm injury that forced him to miss playing tournaments in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami.

In his first event back, Munar hit 19 winners and converted three of five break points against Shevchenko. He outpointed his opponent 61-43.

“I’m very happy. Of course, playing at home is always easier than anywhere else,” Munar said, after leveling his 2026 win-loss record at 6-6 and his career mark at 5-5 in Madrid. “I feeling great for the opportunity to play. It was a really good match and I’m happy to get through it and to have another one to see where my body is.”

“I’ve been struggling with my serve because of the injury, but overall, I think I am playing good tennis. I’m feeling great from the baseline physically and moving well. I think I’m able to dominate the points more than before.”

Also, Spanish qualifier Daniel Merida, 21, met lucky loser Marco Trungelliti, 36, of Argentina in a rematch of their Tuesday final round of qualifying. Both players came in having won four tour-level wins this season, all en route to their first ATP Tour final three weeks ago as qualifiers, Merida in Bucharest (where he lost to Mariano Navone) and Trungelliti in Marrakech (losing to Rafael Jodar).

Thursday evening on Stadium 3, the 102nd-ranked Merida went the distance and pulled out a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (6) victory over No. 77 Trungelliti in two hours and 41 minutes filled with drama and tension. He saved a pair of match points just to send the match to a decisive tiebreaker – and finally won on his fifth match-point opportunity during the tie-break.

Next, Merida will face No. 26 seed Corentin Moutet of France.

Meanwhile, 99th-ranked wild card Martin Landaluce, who made his Top 100 debut this week, was unsuccessful in recording his first ATP Tour win in Spain Thursday evening. The Madrid native dropped to 0-6 on his home soil and 0-8 in tour-level clay-court competition after losing his first-round match to No. 117 Adam Walton of Australia, 6-2, 6-3, on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium in one hour and 20 minutes. 

Landaluce, 20, a former junior world No. 1, was outpointed by Walton 60-47. His serve was broken four times in five attempts. The victory was Walton’s first against a Top-100 opponent on clay and third career win on the surface. Landaluce is now 4-3 in tour-level matches this season and 0-4 lifetime at the Madrid Open.

Monfils returns to Madrid for final time, loses to Ugo Carabelli

At 39, France’s Gael Monfils was the oldest player featured in the ATP Masters 1000 main draw. On Thursday evening, Monfils played for the final time on Manolo Santana Stadium and lost to 57th-ranked Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina in their first meeting, 6-3, 6-4, in one hour and 18 minutes. 

Monfils, who is set to retire at the end of this season, earned his best result in Madrid by advancing to the quarterfinals in 2008, when the tournament was contested on an indoor hard court, and also in 2010 on clay. 

However, Ugo Carabelli proved to be the better player than the 200th-ranked wild card. He saved all three break points he faced, converted two of seven break points against Monfils and outpointed him 71-55 to advance to the second round against No. 10 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy.

Despite losing, all was good with Monfils, who smiled and gave Ugo Carabelli a big hug at the net. Later, during his on-court interview, the 26-year-old Argentine said: “I’m very happy with the match today against Gaël; he’s a legend. I’m very happy my level was good. I love to play on clay.

“I’m very nervous before the match and all throughout the match. He’s a showman, a very good player. His serve is so strong.

“He’s a friend of mine outside of the court. It’s an honor to play him. He’s a very good person. I’m very happy to have won this match.”

Ruud ready to defend Madrid Open crown

Reigning Mutua Madrid Open champion Casper Ruud will attempt to become just the third man in Madrid tournament history to successfully defend his title after defeating Jack Draper to garner his first ATP Masters 1000 title a year ago in the Spanish capital city.

Looking back, five-time Madrid champion Rafael Nadal won back-to-back titles in 2013-14 and Carlos Alcaraz achieved the feat in 2022-23. Andrey Rublev, who won the 2024 Madrid title, is the last player to win an event that both Alcaraz and this year’s top seed, Jannik Sinner, played in.

Looking ahead, the No. 12 seed Ruud will begin the title defense of his most important trophy won to date on Saturday against Jaume Munar of Spain, who defeated Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan, in the first round on Thursday. Although the 15th-ranked Ruud has crafted a very successful career on clay – 12 of his 14 career titles have been won on the red brick surface – being the defending champion at an ATP Masters 1000 event is something new to him.

“It’s motivating for me to return to the tournament and try to play good tennis,” Ruud said during his pre-tournament news conference at Caja Magica. “The next two weeks are going to be very exciting.”

Ruud enters play in Madrid after retiring due to injury in the third round at the recent Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Afterward, he spent time in Mallorca in the company of former No. 1 Nadal, who gave Ruud some advice.

“I’m happy to say I’m fully recovered,” Ruud said. “I was a bit worried at first, I thought Madrid would be tough. But I’ve had good days of recovery. I spent a week in Mallorca, training at Rafa’s academy and working on fitness off the ours. I’m really pleased to be here, ready to compete again.”

What advice did Rafa share with Ruud? The Norwegian No. 1 said: “He encouraged me to keep going and told me I have plenty to fight for in the coming weeks.” 

Around the Caja Magica

The remainder of the men’s first round matches – 16 in all – were completed on Thursday. Among the winners advancing to the second round were:

No. 45 Mariano Navone of Argentina, No. 47 Terence Atmane of France, No. 50 Fabian Marozsan of Hungary, No. 60 Yannick Hanfmann of Germany, No. 67 Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina, No. 69 Alexander Blockx of Belgium, No. 80 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 96th-ranked qualifier Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay, 124th-ranked qualifier Vilius Gaubas of Lithuania, 126th-ranked qualifier Martin Damm of the United States, and 140th-ranked qualifier Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway.

Thursday’s Madrid Open results

Friday’s Madrid Open order of play

By the numbers

• Four of the top five players who have made the most appearances at the Madrid Open are Spaniards: Rafael Nadal (20), Fernando Verdasco (18), Feliciano Lopez (17) and David Ferrer (16).

• A total of eight qualifiers have advanced to the second round, including four in the upper-half of the draw and four in the lower-half.

“Quotable …”

“Rafa has encouraged me to carry on and give my best. You can’t ask any more of a player. Rafa has won so many big titles on clay. I could never compare myself to him. He’s in a league of his own on this surface. If there’s one thing you can learn from him, it’s determination. He never gave up, and he was able to win many matches without being at his best because he was so well prepared physically and mentally.”

– Defending Madrid Open champion Casper Ruud, during his pre-tournament news conference, describing advice he received from Rafael Nadal.

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