The Madrid Open quarterfinals present two intriguing men’s matchups and a surprise-laden women’s tie. At the center is Jannik Sinner, now 24, who will face 19-year-old Rafael Jodar in their first career meeting. Sinner has spent much of his rise chasing the game’s established champions; this time the script flips and he arrives as the elder in a matchup against a rising home favorite.

“It would be good if I face him before Rome and then Roland Garros, Sinner says. “Here is very unique conditions. He’s from Madrid, so he’s very used to these conditions here.”

Jodar has drawn buzz for an all-court game that blends power, height and speed. He lost the second set to Joao Fonseca on Sunday but closed the match with a 6-1 third set. Against Vit Kopriva he remained level through 10 games before winning the last eight. On clay last week in Barcelona he pushed Arthur Fils to three competitive sets before falling. Jodar’s flat, pace-oriented strokes resemble those of Sinner and Novak Djokovic, and the home crowd will be firmly behind him. Still, his recent results on other home courts suggest he may not yet have the consistency to topple Sinner. Pick: Sinner.

Arthur Fils and Jiri Lehecka have split two meetings in 2026, Fils taking a 6-3, 6-3 win in the Doha quarterfinals while Lehecka prevailed 6-2, 6-2 in the Miami semifinal. Fils arrived in Miami after a marathon, late-night 7-6, 7-6, 7-6 win over Tommy Paul and has since captured a title in Barcelona. Lehecka, up to No. 14, recently straight-setted a Top 10 opponent, Lorenzo Musetti. Fils brings heavier hitting and athleticism; Lehecka offers a clean strike and an underrated serve. Given Fils’ form and mentality this spring, he has the edge. Pick: Fils.

On the women’s side, Marta Kostyuk and Linda Noskova are both unexpected names in the quarters. Kostyuk, seeded 26th, ousted Jessica Pegula in straight sets and arrives off a clay title in Rouen. Noskova, seeded 13th, edged Coco Gauff in a third-set tiebreak and reached her first WTA 1000 final in Beijing last fall. Both were junior standouts and are still early in their careers. Expect a competitive match and more progress to come from each player.

Casper Ruud overturned a near-certain defeat to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in a dramatic fourth-round match at the Madrid Open, prevailing 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3). The defending champion only secured his first break on his 12th opportunity, doing so after Tsitsipas had pushed Ruud to the brink.

Ruud missed his first 11 break points, including a costly chance when Tsitsipas was serving at 1-2, 30-40. He described the moment bluntly: “Had somewhat of an easy sitter forehand. The plan was to go big cross and then I changed my mind just a split of a second before,” he recalled during his post-match interview with ATP Media. “I hesitated and went down the line, hit it on top of the net and not convinced at all. Those things you tend to remember unfortunately a bit too long.

“That was a key point for him and he broke me in the next game. Two tough games for me to swallow.”

Trailing 3-5 and facing two match points on his serve, Ruud produced a forehand winner to deny the first. Tsitsipas then sent a backhand return long on the second. Later, the former world No. 3 would not face another match point; he reached deuce at 5-4 after Ruud erased the 11th break point against him. An attempted serve-and-volley failed, bringing up ad out, and Tsitsipas faltered while catching his forehand late.

“Obviously you don’t hope for mistakes out of your opponent’s racquet, you want to see good tennis, But when you’re break points to stay in the match, you kind of hope that he will do something, unforced error. Luckily he did,” commented Ruud. “At 5-5, I said to myself, ‘This is why we train hard. This is why we love this sport, for these moments.’”

In the decisive tiebreak, Ruud charged back after a mini break, winning six consecutive points to close the match. When Tsitsipas netted a one-handed backhand to finish it, Ruud bent over and roared. “The return at 3-all in the tie-break is kind of what wins the match for me,” he would credit.

Tsitsipas later summed up the defeat with a “we’re so back” versus “it’s so over” meme he posted on X afterwards.

Rafa Jodar continued his breakthrough spring at the Mutua Madrid Open, reaching his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal with a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Vit Kopriva. The 19-year-old’s run in Madrid is projected to move him inside the Top 40 for the first time and puts him within reach of a Grand Slam seed ahead of Roland Garros next month.

With the already-announced withdrawal of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Jodar would be one spot out from guaranteeing a seed with three weeks remaining before the Roland Garros draw is set. On court after his win over Kopriva he said, “I’m super happy with my level today, with my level at this tournament. “It’s always so special to play at home in front of many people you know and came to support you. So, I’m super happy to play another match tomorrow.”

Jodar has compiled a 16-3 record since the Miami Open, where he qualified and reached the third round. The Spanish teenager captured his first ATP title in Marrakech and reached his first ATP 500 semifinal in Barcelona prior to arriving in Madrid.

Entering Madrid as a wild card, Jodar upset No. 5 seed Alex de Minaur and No. 27 seed Joao Fonseca, the latter match extending late into the night as he advanced to the fourth round. Against Kopriva, from 5-5 in the first set he closed out the last eight games to seal the victory and a meeting with the top seed.

Jodar will face world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals. “It’s an opportunity,” Jodar said. “You have to recover well, prepare well for the match the best way as possible and think about tomorrow because it’s going to be another tough match.” Sinner noted the challenge posed by Jodar’s late-night finish against Fonseca, a result that led organizers to give the top seed an 11 a.m. start. On Jodar, Sinner said, “Jodar is a very, very clean hitter, very easy power. You can hear with the sound, you know, when he touches it, and it’s a good sound coming from the racquet. He’s very, very talented. He’s going to be a great, great player in the future, and he’s already showing. I like the mentality, it’s quite calm. I don’t know him personally, but he seems very humble. So, yeah, he’s a very, very good player, and I wish him only the best.”