Musetti Reaches Madrid Fourth Round Filled With Energy And Confidence 

Lorenzo Musetti
Lorenzo Musetti (photo: Mateo Villalba/MMO)

MADRID/WASHINGTON, April 26, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

There was a big smile on the face of World No. 9 Lorenzo Musetti after he secured match point to win his third-round match over No. 29 seed Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands at the Mutua Madrid Open Sunday afternoon.

Musetti, the No. 6 seed from Carrara, Italy, advanced to the round of 16 with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over the Dutch No. 1, completed in an hour and 40 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium, in which he struck 21 winners, converted four of nine break points and outpointed Griekspoor 70-60. Musetti secured match point on his first opportunity after winning an eight-shot rally. 

It all added up for Musetti, who collected his 11th victory of the 2026 season. With Sunday’s triumph, he is level in his career head-to-head with Griekspoor at 1-all. This time, he won with energy and confidence.

Musetti is returning to sharp form following a significant right-leg injury, which forced him to retire from his Australian Open quarterfinal match against Novak Djokovic. He missed a series of February events and withdrew from the Miami Open in order to ensure he would be able to return for the clay swing through Europe free of injury.

After coming into his third-round encounter with Griekspoor with a 19-1 record against players ranked outside the Top 30 on clay since Roland-Garros in 2024, Musetti improved to 23-6 on clay courts since the start of the 2025 season, including a run to the Madrid semifinals last year.

“Tallon played a solid match,” Musetti said during his on-court interview. “Two breaks up in both sets. I managed to stay there and kind of looked for a chance [to win].”

There were moments of magic that show why Musetti is a deserving Top-10 player. He wasn’t afraid to unleash his beautiful one-fisted backhand, which accounted for seven winners. Although Musetti was threatened at times, it was never for very long.

Meanwhile, Griekspoor walked of the court with his shoulders slumped after suffering his 10th loss of the season in 18 matches. He is still without a Top-10 win on clay, now 0-8 lifetime.

“I managed to beat a really dangerous player like Tallon,” Musetti added. “He can play really well, especially with these conditions. I’m really happy and proud of this win.”

This is Musetti’s time of the year to shine. He’s progressing nicely in Madrid, following quality victories over No. 63 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland and Griekspoor to reach the round of 16 in Madrid for the third time after 2002 and last year.

As he wrapped up his on-court interview, Musetti summed things up this way: “When magic happens, it gives you a boost of energy and confidence, and a trust in what you are doing.”

Next, Musetti will meet World No. 14 and 11th seed Jiri Lehecka of Czechia for a berth in the quarterfinals. Lehecka advanced to the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over 21-year-old American Alex Michelsen, ranked No. 37, in one hour and 25 minutes on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium. The Czech No. 1 extended his ATP Masters 1000 win-loss record to 9-3 record this season, including a run to the Miami Open final.

Lehecka finished with 10 aces and 20 winners overall. He faced no break points on his serve and converted three of six chances against Michelsen, whom he outpointed 67-51. 

Sinner bests Moller to advance to Madrid fourth round

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy continued in his quest to become the first man in ATP Masters 1000 series history to win five consecutive events after defeating 169th-ranked Danish qualifier Elmer Moller, 6-2, 6-3, in one hour and 17 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium.

The victory in the third-round match was Sinner’s 19th-straight, in which he has accumulated a trio of ATP Masters 1000 titles at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo. He improved his win-loss record for the 2026 season to 26-2.

Although Sinner had never faced Moller before Sunday, he displayed a sense of consistency throughout and produced 16 winners to just 10 unforced errors, won 72 percent (26 of 36) of his first-serve points and converted four of nine break points against the 22-year-old Danish, who was playing against a Top-10 player for the first time.

“I tried to stay calm and serve well in important moments,” Sinner said during his on-court interview. “I think that was the key today. There was not a lot of rhythm, so I tried to stay quite compact. Let’s see what’s coming in the next round.”

The victory extended Sinner’s ATP Masters 1000 winning streak to 24 matches, which is the fourth-longest in series history dating back to 1990. Next, he will face No. 19 seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, who beat No. 75 Thiago Agustin Tirante of Argentina, 7-5, 7-6 (5) in one hour and 48 minutes on Stadium 3, in the fourth round on Tuesday.

Norrie faced no break points on his serve, broke Tirante once and outpointed him 71-70 to reach the Madrid fourth round for the second time.

Around the Caja Magica

• No 25 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina ended the surprising run of 87th-ranked qualifier Dino Prizmic of Croatia by going the distance to pull out a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory in two hours and 10 minutes on Stadium 3. 

Prizmic, who earlier won two rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw, then upset No. 92 Matteo Berrettini of Italy and World No. 6 and fourth seed Ben Shelton of the United States to advance to the third round, met his match in Etcheverry. It was the ninth time this season the Argentine has come back to win after losing the first set. He won 88 percent (42 of 48) of his first-serve points, converted four of 11 break-point opportunities and outpointed Prizmic 78-75.

The 29th-ranked Etcheverry leads the ATP Tour in clay wins this season (15), highlighted by his first ATP Tour title in Rio. He’s now 26-1 versus players ranked outside the Top 50 since July last year. Now, Etcheverry is through to his third career ATP Masters 1000 round of 16, following his recent successes in Miami and Monte-Carlo.

Next, Etcheverry will face No. 21 seed Arthur Fils of France, who defeated 116th-ranked American Emilio Nava, 7-6 (2), 6-3, in 90 minutes to record his 20th victory of the season – the sixth player to achieve this plateau – and his seventh-straight win after winning the Barcelona title last week. Fils is now 21-1 versus players ranked outside the Top 30 since the start of April last year. He’s reached the quarterfinals in five of the six tournaments he’s played in this season.

Fils withstood 10 aces and 23 winners from Nava by winning 81 percent (38 of 47) of his first-serve points and 60 percent (12 of 20) of his second-serve points. He converted two of six break-point chances and outpointed Nava 75-58.

• No. 66 Vit Kopriva of Czechia advanced to the fourth round by retirement over No. 22 seed Arthur Rinderknech of France due to an injury to the Frenchman’s left calf, after the two split sets. Kopriva won the first set 6-4, then lost the second one 6-3. It was his fourth career win against a Top 30 opponent.

Rinderknech, who hit 11 aces, was ahead on total points 65-57 at the time of the retirement.

Next, Kopriva, who is through to his first ATP Masters 1000 fourth round, will face either No. 27 seed Joao Fonseca of Brazil or 42nd-ranked wild card Rafael Jodar of Spain, who played later Sunday evening.

• In doubles, defending champions and this year’s No. 1 seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina were upset in the first round by unseeded Romain Arneodo and Valentin Vacherot of Monaco, 2-6, 6-1, 10-6, in one hour and 12 minutes on Court 5. Granollers and Zeballos, who also won the Madrid title in 2021, were outpointed 56-40. 

Last year’s finalists, this year’s No. 5 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia, advanced with a 6-4, 7-6 (6) win over unseeded Americans Tommy Paul and Ethan Quinn in one hour and 26 minutes on Court 6. Points were even at 67 each.

Also, No. 3 seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain advanced with a 7-5, 7-5 win over unseeded Alejandro Tabilo of Chile and Learner Tien of the United States in one hour and 18 minuets on Court 6. They combined to hit nine aces and outpointed their opponents 73-56.

Sunday’s Madrid Open results

Monday’s Madrid Open order of play

By the numbers

According to the ATP Tour, before Sunday’s encounter between 19-year-old teenagers Rafael Jodar of Spain and Joao Fonseca of Brazil, there have been seven teenagers who have reached the round of 16 at the Madrid Open. They include: Rafael Nadal (2005), Novak Djokovic (2006), Andy Murray (2006), Juan Martin del Potro (2007), Denis Shapovalov (2018), Carlos Alcaraz (2022, 2023) and Jakub Mensik (2025). All were 19 years old.

“Quotable …”

“In Madrid it’s always super important to get through your first match. I could have played as many hours as I wanted to here. Only the match kind of showed me the truth, told me how I needed to play, what was working and what was not. So, I am happy I was able to make it through my first match. Today, I was feeling much better on the court. I was feeling a little bit freer. I knew what was going to work and what wasn’t going to work. These key moments today I was focusing on my serve, as always. On the return, I was trying not to fall in some kind of stereotype. … It was a good decision.”

– No. 11 seed Jiri Lehecka of Czechia, during his on-court interview following his third-round win over Alex Michelsen of the United States.

 

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