There have already been a few notable departures from the 2026 Madrid Open as the tournament gets underway.
Venus Williams, who entered the event with a wildcard, was knocked out early after a straightforward loss to Kaitlin Quevedo.
Gael Monfils, playing in his final season before retirement, also made an early exit during what will be his last appearance in Madrid.
Meanwhile, Grigor Dimitrov was beaten by Paraguayan qualifier Adolfo Daniel Vallejo.
With Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic both missing from the men’s draw due to withdrawals, there’s now a clear opportunity for other players to make their mark.
Others haven’t been able to make the most of that opportunity, including Alexei Popyrin, the former Canadian Open champion.
Popyrin, now 26, picked up the biggest win of his career in Montreal just over a year and a half ago. That remains his only ATP Masters 1000 title so far.
Although he did climb as high as 19th in the rankings after that victory, he hasn’t been able to build much momentum since then.
Popyrin followed up a patchy 2025 season with a slow start to this year. He went out in the first round of Madrid on Thursday, losing to world number 126 Martin Damm Jr.
That result extends his losing run at Masters 1000 events to five matches, with his last win at this level coming back in August at Cincinnati.
He has managed just one Grand Slam match win in his last three appearances, which came at the US Open last year. His current ranking of world number 56 is also his lowest since August two years ago.
Alexei Popyrin’s 2026 season began on a rough note, opening with five straight losses across events in Brisbane, Adelaide, the Australian Open, Manama and Rotterdam.
He broke that streak at the Qatar Open with a win over Qatari wildcard Mubarak Zayid, who was ranked outside the top 2000 at the time.
That momentum didn’t last long, as Popyrin exited in the next round following a defeat to Jannik Sinner.
He picked up another win in Dubai before two more opening-round exits in Indian Wells and Miami.
Popyrin did manage back-to-back wins at the Houston Men’s Clay Court Championships, making it to the quarter-finals before losing to Frances Tiafoe.
Popyrin now sits with a 4-11 record for 2026 after losses in Monte-Carlo and Madrid added to what has been a challenging year.
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