Fernando Font\u00e1n Pardo de Santayana has been crowned champion of the boys’ under-16 category at the 2026 Mutua Madrid Open after defeating second seed Pablo Rueda 6-4, 6-0 in the final. Despite the scoreline, it was a hard-fought and entertaining battle.<\/p>\n
The first set proved key. Nearly an hour of battle, tension, long rallies and huge emotional pressure, the fiercely contested opener was won through just as much nerve and composure as through good tennis. Font\u00e1n edged it 6-4, tipping the final decisively in his favour. Rueda, who had matched him shot for shot up to that point, failed to recover from the blow, and the Madrid native used that momentum to produce an impeccable second set, winning it to love.<\/p>\n
With the win Fernando lived up to his billing as the tournament favourite. A player from the RACE Tennis School and top seed in the draw, Font\u00e1n had already proved his credentials on the road to Madrid. He won the qualifying event held at the Caja Magica itself, as well as the one in Bilbao. Returning to the big stage of the Mutua Madrid Open Under-16, he delivered once again, this time with authority.<\/p>\n
The victory also completes an interesting circle. Barely a month after the Madrid Championship, the Caja Magica has witnessed another double. In April, it was Ailish Garc\u00eda and Fernando Font\u00e1n who triumphed in their respective categories at the Madrid Championship. Now, at the Under-16 Mutua Madrid Open, the same names have been etched into the trophies. The two titles further cement the status of two of Madrid’s brightest tennis prospects.<\/p>\n
Font\u00e1n has already begun to make a name for himself. At just 15, he knows what it is to win an ITF Junior event, and he has long been breaking age records in a career that promises a great future. Now he has added Madrid to a growing CV in a week he is unlikely to forget any time soon.<\/p>\n
This morning he received his trophy from Garbi\u00f1e Muguruza, co-director of the tournament, and this afternoon he will enjoy another unforgettable moment in the Manolo Santana Stadium. Font\u00e1n will share the podium with the champion of the 2026 Mutua Madrid Open, either Jannik Sinner or Alexander Zverev. A fitting reward for a perfect week.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, it\u2019s practically a dream to be able to celebrate alongside Sinner or Zverev. I don\u2019t mind who it is, to be honest, but it\u2019s just crazy. I\u2019m really grateful for the opportunity and still can\u2019t quite believe it. I played at such a high level, so it couldn\u2019t have gone better\u201d, he said just after winning the tournament.<\/p>\n
It truly could not have gone better. Under-16 champion at the Mutua Madrid Open, victorious in the Caja Magica and about to end his day alongside one of the world\u2019s top tennis stars. What more could you want?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fernando Font\u00e1n Pardo de Santayana has been crowned champion of the boys’ under-16 category at the 2026 Mutua Madrid Open after defeating second seed Pablo Rueda 6-4, 6-0 in the final. Despite the scoreline, it was a hard-fought and entertaining battle. The first set proved key. Nearly an hour of battle, tension, long rallies and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":109609,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1142],"tags":[1143],"class_list":["post-109653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sub16-en","tag-muta-madrid-open-sub-16-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109654,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109653\/revisions\/109654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}