Top seed Alexander Zverev will continue his bid for another Madrid title when he faces Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Sunday. The third-round lineup also includes Francisco Cerundolo vs. Francisco Comesana.
(1) Alexander Zverev vs. (28) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Zverev and Davidovich Fokina will be doing battle for the sixth time in their careers when they clash in round three of the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday. The head-to-head series stands at 4-1 in favor of Zverev, who dominated their only previous clay-court contest 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 at the 2021 French Open. They have not squared off since 2023, a year that saw Davidovich Fokina dominate 6-1, 6-2 at the Toronto Masters before Zverev scored a 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-1 victory in Beijing.
It looks like Zverev has found his form just in time for the second Grand Slam of the season at Roland Garros, where he finished runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz last May. The second-ranked German had been slumping when he arrived in Munich earlier this month, but he rolled to the title at that ATP 500 tournament and then opened in Madrid with a 6-2, 6-2 beatdown of Roberto Bautista Agut. Davidovich Fokina, who erased Nuno Borges 6-2, 6-3 on Friday, has been outstanding in 2025 to the tune of a 21-10 match record. However, the 29th-ranked Spaniard has rarely caused problems in this matchup in the past and now he faces Zverev at a place where the top seed is 24-5 all time with two titles.
Pick: Zverev in 2
(20) Francisco Cerundolo vs. Joao Comesana
This is already the best Masters 1000 result of Comesana’s career–and one of his best-ever tournaments in general along with a semifinal run in Rio de Janeiro earlier this season and an especially surprising third-round effort at Wimbledon last summer. The 70th-ranked Argentine has advanced in Madrid with straight-set victories over Pedro Martinez and Arthur Fils.Up next for Comesana is a fourth meeting with Cerundolo (all on clay), for whom the head-to-head series has been mostly one-way traffic. The 21st-ranked Argentine won in three sets at a 2019 Futures tournament in Lima before prevailing twice in 2024–6-1, 1-6, 6-2 in Rio and 7-5, 6-4 in Hamburg. Cerundolo is currently playing the best tennis of his life, sporting a 21-9 record this season that features a runner-up finish in Buenos Aires, two other semifinal showings, and back-to-back quarterfinal performances in Indian Wells and Miami. The 20th seed eased past Harold Mayot 6-3, 6-4 on Friday and a similar scoreline should be in the cards for this one.
Pick: Cerundolo in 2
