Stefanos Tsitsipas has made a strong start to the Madrid Open this year.

After coming from behind to win his opening match, he then followed up by beating eighth seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets.

The Greek, whose ranking had dropped from 34th to 80th this season, secured his first top-20 clay court win since the 2024 Olympics with that victory over Bublik.

Next up for him is Daniel Merida Aguilar in the third round – a player he hasn’t played before on the ATP Tour. After the match, tennis great Boris Becker reached out to Tsitsipas on social media.

Taking to X, the platform previously known as Twitter, Becker wrote: “Let’s keep going….1 match doesn’t give you the trophy you deserve eventually.

The German, who won six Grand Slam titles in his career, added: “Upwards & onwards.”

Tsitsipas has not made it past the third round of a Masters 1000 event since reaching the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters last year.

His last title at this level also came in Monte-Carlo back in 2024, marking his third triumph at that tier.

Despite staying injury-free this season after a difficult 2025, Tsitsipas hasn’t managed to put together any strong runs during the Masters series.

The former world number three exited early at Indian Wells, losing in the opening round to Denis Shapovalov.

He went slightly further in Miami, reaching the third round with wins over Arthur Ferry and Alex de Minaur before falling to Arthur Fils.

Tsitsipas struggled again on clay at Monte-Carlo — a tournament where he’s previously won three times — bowing out again in the first round. Now he will be hoping for more success as he looks for a fourth-round appearance against Merida Aguilar.

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