Jannik Sinner walked off Manolo Santana Stadium on Friday night with a 6-2, 6-4 semi-final win over Arthur Fils and a piece of history that places him in company once thought untouchable. By reaching the final of the Mutua Madrid Open, the Italian became the fourth man to play a final at all nine current ATP Masters 1000 events — and the youngest ever to do it.
The list
Only Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer had completed the set before Sinner. Djokovic was 25 when he managed it, Nadal 27, Federer 30. Sinner is 24. Madrid had been the missing piece on his résumé; the Italian’s previous best at La Caja Mágica was a fourth-round appearance in 2024.
The streak
The semi-final win extended Sinner’s run at Masters 1000 level to 27 consecutive matches, dating back to his title in Paris in November. He lifted the Indian Wells, Miami, and Monte-Carlo trophies in the months that followed and is now two wins shy of equaling Federer for the third-longest such streak in the format’s history. Djokovic holds the record at 31. A title on Sunday would make Sinner the first player ever to win five consecutive Masters 1000 trophies.
The opponent
Standing between Sinner and that mark is Alexander Zverev, the two-time Madrid champion who reached his fourth final in the Spanish capital with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Belgian breakout Alexander Blockx. Zverev becomes the third man, after Federer and Nadal, to reach a Madrid final on four occasions.
He also has the distinction of being the player Sinner has beaten in each of the past four Masters 1000 semi-finals — Paris, Indian Wells, Miami, and Monte-Carlo — without dropping a set. The head-to-head reads 9-4 to the Italian, with Sinner winning each of their past eight meetings.
The performance
Against Fils, who arrived in Madrid on a nine-match winning streak after his Barcelona title, Sinner did not face a break point. He hit 17 winners to the Frenchman’s 10 and broke at 2-1 in the first set before sealing the match in 85 minutes.
“I tried to be very aggressive,” Sinner said afterwards. “I felt very comfortable on the return. In the second set, he started to serve better, so it was more difficult. But I’m very happy about the general performance today.”
The final begins not before 5pm local time on Sunday, with Sinner on a 22-match overall winning streak.
