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Alejandro Davidovich Fokina rode the support of his home crowd to a stirring upset of sixth seed Holger Rune on Sunday at the Mutua Madrid Open. With victory in a 7-6(1), 5-7, 7-6(5) battle of attrition, the Spaniard earned his fourth Top 10 win by outlasting Rune over the course of three hours, five minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium.

Both players received treatment during the dramatic match — Rune for his right wrist early on, and Davidovich Fokina for his upper leg area late — and struggled physically at times, but it was the Spaniard who summoned the energy in the decisive tie-break to progress to the last 16.

"Mentally and physically it was very hard," Davidovich Fokina said after the post-1 a.m. finish. "Rune is a very good player. It was always tough games and we had to stay focussed on every service, because you never know when you [can] have the break point.

"I had my chances in the third set too, but I had a lot of tension and I was a little bit anxious to finish the point," added the 23-year-old, who let slip a 5-3 lead in the decider before regrouping. "But I did well and I'm very happy."

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Davidovich Fokina is bidding to advance to a second ATP Masters 1000 final after he earned two of his Top 10 wins in reaching the Monte-Carlo title match last season, beating Novak Djokovic and Matteo Berrettini in Monaco.

After escaping Emil Ruusuvuori in a three-set comeback to begin his title defence at the Mutua Madrid Open, Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the last 16 with a thoroughly entertaining win on Sunday against Grigor Dimitrov. In a 6-2, 7-5 victory, the stylish Alcaraz imposed his athletic game to make a fast start then showed his grit to instantly recover a break in the second set.

He will next face Alexander Zverev in a rematch of last year's Madrid final, won by Alcaraz in straight sets. Zverev leads the ATP Head2Head 3-1, including a win in their most recent meeting in last year's Roland Garros quarter-finals.

"I really want to play that match. We played a few times, head-to-head he is up," Alcaraz said of the showdown encounter. "I really want to show my great level here in front of my home crowd. I have great memories from last year in the final but obviously I have to be really focussed in that match. I know that Sascha is a really good player, a really aggressive one with good serves. I have to show all my skills."

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Alcaraz is seeking to complete the Barcelona-Madrid double for the second straight season after retaining the title at the Barcelona ATP 500 last Sunday. He has won 17 straight matches on Spanish soil across four campaigns and must push that number to 21 to earn the title in Madrid.

Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer overcame Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4 at the Mutua Madrid Open to reach their fifth tour-level quarter-final of the season.

Chasing their third tour-level title this year, the fourth seeds won 90 per cent (28/31) of their first-serve points to move past the Top 15 singles stars and improve to 14-6 as a team on clay. Arevalo and Rojer, who triumphed at Roland Garros last season, will next face Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov.

The Canadians, who advanced to the last eight in Indian Wells, downed sixth seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara 6-4, 6-2.

In other action, Jamie Murray and Michael Venus defeated Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 3-6, 6-3, 10-4 in one hour and 21 minutes. Murray and Venus have now won six consecutive matches after lifting the trophy in Banja Luka last week.

Alexander Zverev continued his love affair with the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday when he wasted little time in reaching the fourth round. The German overpowered French qualifier Hugo Grenier 6-1, 6-0 in 55 minutes.

Zverev survived an opening-round scare against Roberto Carballes Baena but faced no such problems against Grenier. He struck 26 winners, won 86 per cent (17/20) of net points and broke Grenier’s serve six times to earn his 12th win of the season.

"Today I felt great," Zverev said. "Maybe Hugo was a bit nervous, first time in the third round at a [ATP] Masters [1000] and that is big for any player. In general I am happy that I kept my composure and that I am through."

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The 13th seed has often produced his best level on the Madrid clay, holding a 21-3 record at the ATP Masters 1000 event. He has reached at least the quarter-finals in all five of his previous appearances, lifting the trophy in 2018 and 2021.

Players on the ATP Challenger Tour often carry impactful stories that go relatively untold.

Such is the case with Belgian Zizou Bergs, who has been donating tennis equipment to the African country Burundi for eight years. A five-time Challenger Tour champion, the 23-year-old recently triumphed at the Tallahassee Challenger just a few weeks after his grandfather passed away. Bergs’ life off the court is a story within itself.

Following an eye-opening trip to Burundi at age 15, the Belgian No. 2 quickly developed a contact, Marcel Van der Haegen, in the East African country and has since donated tennis clothes and equipment.

“I still have that project going on,” Bergs told ATPTour.com. “We're not always aware about it, but you have so much and sometimes feel like you have little. You grow up in a very good culture, in a very good country and you think everything is quite normal that you have all these clothes, shoes, racquets, you can string whenever you want, get great food at the table every day. That is not common [there], it really opened my eyes. They would play with my [stuff], even if it was like five sizes too big, they would still play with it. That really touched me.”

Earlier this month, Burundi hosted an ITF Women’s 25K event. Bergs received word from a friend at the tournament that while she was there, she noticed several guys around the capital city Bujumbura who were wearing his clothes and playing with the racquets he’s donated over the years.

Karen Khachanov reached the fourth round at the Mutua Madrid Open for the first time on Sunday when he clawed past Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in a Madrid thriller.

Competing in front of a packed crowd inside Manolo Santana Stadium, both took large cuts at the ball as they looked to impose their powerful games. After a tight first two sets, Khachanov hit a purple patch in the decider. He struck 20 winners in the third set compared to four from Bautista Agut and won three straight games from 3-3 to triumph in two hours and 53 minutes.

Khachanov, who is making his sixth appearance in Madrid, reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January before he advanced to the last four at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March. The 26-year-old is chasing his fifth tour-level crown and first since 2018 this fortnight in the Spanish capital.

With his 18th win of the season, Khachanov improved to 3-6 in his long-running ATP Head2Head series rivalry against Bautista Agut. Up one spot to No. 11 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, Khachanov will next meet fifth seed Andrey Rublev.

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Third-round action begins on Sunday at the Mutua Madrid Open, where Carlos Alcaraz, Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune continue their title quests at the ATP Masters 1000 clay-court event.

Karen Khachanov, Hubert Hurkacz and Alexander Zverev also play on a day when seeded stars clash for the first time at this year’s event. ATPTour.com looks at some of the key third-round matchups on show in the Spanish capital on Sunday across the men’s singles draw and men’s doubles draw.

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[1] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) vs. [26] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)

Alcaraz triumphed in Madrid last year, defeating Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev en route to the crown. Twelve months on and the 19-year-old overcame a tough opening test against Emil Ruusuvuori on Friday to set a second meeting against former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov.

Alcaraz, who will boost his World No. 1 hopes if he defends his title in the Spanish capital, is seeking his fourth tour-level title of the season in Madrid. The home favourite will be aware of the threat Dimitrov holds as he chases his 17th consecutive win at Spanish ATP Tour events.

Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski picked up where they left off at the Mutua Madrid Open on Saturday evening. The top seeds and defending champions passed a tough opening test at the ATP Masters 1000 with a 6-2, 7-6(7) win against Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.

The Dutch-British pair saved all thee break points against them — all in the first set — and later saved a set point at 5/6 in the second-set tie-break before closing out the win on their second match point. With the help of seven aces, they won 84 per cent (32/38) of their first-serve points in the victory.

Through to the last 16, Koolhof/Skupski will face  wild cards Roberto Carballes Baena and Martin Landaluce in the second round following the Spaniards' 6-2, 6-3 win against Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez on Saturday.

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Second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury were knocked out in Madrid without a match win for the second straight year. The American-British team was turned back by Banja Luka champions Jamie Murray and Michael Venus, who scored a 6-2, 3-6, 10-4 upset.

Stefanos Tsitsipas completed a dramatic comeback against Dominic Thiem with victory in a third-set tie-break on Saturday night at the Mutua Madrid Open. In a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(5) triumph, the Greek used a flawless serving performance to shift the tone of the match, then battled back from 1/3 in the decisive tie-break after seeing five break points go begging on return at 5-5.

The Greek made 39 straight first serves spanning from late in the opening set to early in the third, and he won 88 per cent (50/57) per cent of his overall first-serve points in the contest.

"That's fantastic, 39 is a lot," Tsitsipas said of the streak. "That shows that perhaps I improved today on my serve. That's a positive mark for me. I think I just owe it all to fluidity and just being relaxed on my serve... I think it's just pure relaxation and focus."

With victory in the pair's first meeting since the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals, Tsitsipas closed the gap to 4-5 in their ATP Head2Head series, including a 2-1 mark on clay. Both competitors are former finalists in Madrid, with Tsitsipas reaching the 2019 title match and Thiem finishing runner-up in 2017 and 2018.

The last man in the Madrid singles draw to book his third-round ticket, Tsitsipas will next face 25th seed Sebastian Baez, who beat Marcos Giron 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 earlier on Saturday.

Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe both made winning starts at the Mutua Madrid Open on Saturday by coming through challenging opening matches in straight sets. Fritz edged Christopher O'Connell 7-6(11), 6-4, with Tiafoe wrapping a 6-3, 7-6(5) win against Tomas Martin Etcheverry soon after.

Fritz, fresh off consecutive semi-finals in Monte-Carlo and Munich, continued his strong clay-court form as the eighth seed in Madrid by beating fellow Munich semi-finalist O'Connell.

"It's just understanding what I need to change. Because I've always been a believer in not really changing your game too much to go to different surfaces," Fritz said of his recent success on the dirt. "As it turns out for clay, I play much better when I do make pretty drastic changes in where I'm standing and stuff like that. So it's just about finding that, finding what works best for me on clay."

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The 25-year-old needed eight set points before closing out the first set in a marathon tie-break, 13/11, against Australia's O'Connell, saving two set points to edge ahead on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium. He earned the first and only break of the match early in the second set and then saved a break point on his own serve to consolidate for 3-1.

Ben Shelton has imposed his explosive game on the ATP Tour this season, rising into the Top 40 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings with his electric style of play. The American has also shown an uncanny knack for inventive shotmaking this season, with his athleticism creating opportunities for unexpected moments from all parts of the court.

On Saturday at the Mutua Madrid Open, the 20-year-old produced what may have been his most impressive shot yet. Scrambling wide to retrieve a deep, angled volley from Jan-Lennard Struff in their second-round match, Shelton pulled off a behind-the-back flick to stun the German, who appeared to have the line covered before the passing shot snuck past him.

It was not the first time Shelton went behind his back for a winner this season. In Acapulco, he showed quick thinking and quicker hands to stab a majestic, no-look volley into the open court in doubles action.

While Shelton and partner Mackenzie McDonald used the momentum from that moment of brilliance to upset fourth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in Acapulco, the American came up just short against Struff in Madrid, with the German advancing 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5.

Dusan Lajovic is running red hot on the European clay.

The Serbian notched his third Top 10 win in the space of nine days on Saturday at the Mutua Madrid Open by taking out seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(5).

Lajovic clinched an enthralling second-round encounter with a stunning start to the deciding-set tie-break. He charged to a 5/0 lead against a tight Auger-Aliassime, who then threatened a remarkable comeback but was unable to prevent Lajovic converting his sixth match point for a two-hour, 34-minute win.

“It was super tight at the end,” said Lajovic, who had let slip his first two match points at 6-5 on the Auger-Aliassime serve in the final set. “I was just hoping that he was going to stay back on my serve, because when he was coming in, I was feeling a lot of pressure.

“We opened up the last point. I tried to play heavy on my forehand but because my hand was tight, it was really going short until in the end [one] came up well.”

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.

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.

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[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.

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."

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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.

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."

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“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."

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.

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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.

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.