Alexander Blockx, who is the tennis player who is surprising everyone and dreams of a challenge with Jannik Sinner
With a double 6-4, at the end of a match that lasted one hour and thirty-five minutes, Alexander Blockx confirmed himself as a loose cannon of the Madrid Masters 1000, reaching a place in the semifinals. A result that few expected on the eve of the tournament but that the Belgian tennis player earned by overcoming, on his way, Cristian Garin, Brandon Nakashima, Felix Auger-Aliassime (first top 10 defeated in his career) and Francisco Cerundolo, before the match he won against Ruud of Norway.
Blockx, therefore, dreams of challenging the tournament’s big boys and in particular Jannik Sinner, whom he has never met before and could, if the Belgian himself surprises even in the semifinals and the Sesto Pusteria outfielder manages to confirm the prognostication account Arthur Fils, meet in the final act of the tournament being played at the Caja Magica.
Born in Antwerp on April 8, 2005, current number 69 in the ATP rankings (but already certain to enter at least the top 40 at the next update), Alexander Blockx has devoted practically his entire existence to tennis, having picked up the racket at the age of four and entering the tennis school of Philippe Cassiers, who is still his coach, at a very young age. He comes from a family of sportsmen: his Ukrainian-born father Oleg was an athlete specializing in obstacle running, while his mother Natalia was a more than decent swimmer.
Alexander began to build a reputation in 2023, winning the Junior tournament at the Australian Open and entering the ATP Top 500 ranking. Also in 2023, he won two ITF World Tour tournaments, in Glasgow and Sunderland, while in 2024 he achieved his first success at the ATP Challenger level in Kobe, defeating Jurij Rodionov in two sets in the final.
The year 2025 was the year of his ascent to the highest ranks of world tennis: two Challengers won (in Oeiras and Bratislava), participation as a convener (but without taking the court) at the Davis Cup Final 8, where Belgium stopped in the semifinals against Italy, and path as a protagonist at the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah, where only Learner Tien was able to defeat him, in the final.
The year 2026, for Blockx, wants to be the year of consecration: after a very good start at Challenger level, with the tournament in Canberra won by beating the other rising star of world tennis Rafael Jodar in the final, the impact with the major circuit has not been easy but already in Monte Carlo, by reaching the round of 16, the Belgian showed the qualities then confirmed in Madrid, where for the first time he is among the top four in a Masters 1000 and aims to do even better, well aware that he has nothing to lose.
