Sinner Rewrites Tennis History Books With Madrid Open Triumph

Jannik Sinner, Mutua Madrid Open
Jannik Sinner (photo: Florencia Tan Jun/MMO)

MADRID/WASHINGTON, May 3, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev are no strangers to one another on the tennis court. After all, prior to meeting in the Mutua Madrid Open final Sunday in the Spanish capital city, the current World No. 1 and World No. 3 had faced each other 13 times – one of the longest current rivalries in men’s professional tennis. Lately, it’s been a mostly one-sided rival favoring Sinner, who had been the winner in nine of them, including eight straight.

The 24-year-old Italian from the South Tyrol arrived on Manolo Santana Stadium with a 22-match winning streak, after winning titles in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo, bidding to become the first man in series history to win five consecutive ATP Masters 1000 titles – and first man to win first four ATP Masters 1000 events of the season.

Sinner could also become the first man since Novak Djokovic in 2016 to win four ATP Masters 1000 titles in a season and become the champion at eight of the nine events that comprise the ATP Masters 1000 level.

Meanwhile, for the German from Hamburg, Zverev was hoping not only to stop his losing streak to Sinner, but also to win the Madrid Open for the third time – to go along with his title runs in 2018 and 2021 – joining Rafael Nadal (5), Roger Federer (3) and Djokovic (3) as the only men to achieve the feat in tournament history.

As it happened, everything went the top-seeded Sinner’s way and very little went right for No. 2 seed Zverev – and it was over so very quickly, too. With their warmups included, the two competitors were on court for barely over an hour.

Aiming to beat Zverev for the fifth straight time at an ATP Masters 1000 event, the quiet Italian let his racquet do his talking for him. In just 57 minutes, Sinner handily defeated Zverev 6-1, 6-2, to become the first player to win five consecutive ATP Masters 1000 titles – and the first to capture the first four ATP Masters 1000 events of the season. Across his amazing run to his five straight ATP Masters 1000 titles, which began last October in Paris, he’s dropped just two sets (56-2 in sets during the streak). The Madrid Open title was the 28th ATP Tour title of his career and his ninth at ATP Masters 1000 level.

“I think there is a lot of work behind it,” Sinner said during an on-court interview with ATP Media, shortly after securing championship point. He was asked to reflect upon what winning five ATP Masters 1000 titles in a row meant to him. “A lot of dedication and sacrifice I put in every day. Obviously, it means a lot to me, seeing these results. At some point, results are going to be down, which is normal.”

As the Madrid title match unfolded, Sinner jumped ahead with an early 4-0 double-break lead after a pair of solid holds coupled with back-to-back breaks of Zverev’s serve. Sinner won 16 of the first 20 points in the final – eight on his service and eight on return. A third-straight hold of serve lifted Sinner to a 5-0 advantage just 18 minutes into the match. The top-seed already had accumulated seven winners – three of them on service aces – while Zverev had committed six unforced errors. It was the definition of one-way traffic.

Finally, Zverev held serve in his third service game, trailing 5-1, but it was too late to salvage matters as Sinner closed out the 25-minute opening set 6-1 with his fourth ace. In all facets, Sinner controlled the match from the baseline, at the net, and in rallies under nine shots. He was the smarter player, too.

Next, in the second set, Zverev got his first love hold as he attacked Sinner and aggressively pinned him behind the baseline, something he was unable to do in the first set. It provided Zverev with his first lead of the final at 1-0, but Sinner countered with a solid hold of his own. Then, Sinner gained a pair of break points at 15-40 and cashed in with another break of Zverev’s serve – his third in three attempts – to go ahead 2-1, courtesy of the German’s ninth unforced error, after he whacked a third-shot backhand wide of its intended mark.

Soon, Sinner consolidated the break at 15 for a 3-1 lead after Zverev fisted a backhand return wide left. By this time, there seemed little Sinner could do wrong or Zverev right. Although Zverev held easily as the final reached the 45-minute mark, he still trailed by a break and Sinner wasn’t ready to budge.

Later, a hold at love by Sinner provided him with a 4-2 lead, thanks to a nifty fifth-shot angled backhand volley winner on game point. It meant he needed to hold serve just two more times to win the title – and the odds were stacked in his favor. 

Then, as Tennis Channel flashed a graphic noting that Sinner was 20-6 in his last 26 finals, since 2023 at Canada, with his only title losses coming against Carlos Alcaraz (5 times) and Djokovic, Sinner broke with an eighth-shot forehand winner – putting him a game away from winning the championship title. 

Finally, stepping up to the service line with confidence and authority as his allies, Sinner garnered the last game of the final at love and the 2026 Madrid Open title was Sinner’s to savor. All in all, it was a satisfying victory. In Madrid, considering that Sinner had never advanced past the quarterfinal round in three previous appearances at Caja Magica.

Statistically, everything favored Sinner. He won 93 percent (27 of 29) of his first-serve points, hit 19 winners, made only five unforced errors, did not face any break points and converted all four of his break-point attempts Sinner outpointed Zverev 51-23. By comparison, Zverev won just 52 percent (14 of 27) of points behind his first serve, hit nine winners and committed 16 unforced errors.

It was a title match that Zverev would just as soon forget. Sinner now leads their career head-to-head series 10-4, after having lost four of their first give meetings.

“First of all, super sorry for the final. It was not my best day,” Zverev said, addressing the sell-out crowd and Sinner during the trophy ceremony. “But then of course congratulations to Jannik. Best player in the world by far at the moment. Really no chance for most of the people, for us at the moment against you.”

During an on-court interview with Tennis Channel following the trophy ceremony, Sinner described how he managed to widen the gap against the two-time Madrid champion Zverev and what it meant to him winning his fifth-straight ATP Masters 1000 crown.

“Obviously, I tried to stay very calm important moments, breaking very early in the first set, very early in the second set. It helped a lot against some like Sascha,” Sinner told Prakash Amritraj. “Obviously, I’m very, very happy [with the title].

“It has been amazing tournament, again, for me and also for my team. I’m very happy because we have a lot of discipline and have made a lot of sacrifices in our daily routine, which makes it capable for me to do something like this. We will try to rest now. Mentally, it has been very tough. We’ll see how it goes.”

Now, it’s on at to Rome, the Eternal City, where soon in his home country Sinner will begin his quest to complete the set of titles at all nine ATP Masters 1000 events at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia – the Italian Open. Only Djokovic has achieved the milestone. The challenge awaits Sinner. In two weeks, we’ll know how it all turns out.

By the numbers

Sunday’s meeting between No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner and No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev marked the fifth time in tournament history the top two seeds had met in the Madrid Open final – and first time in 10 years.

“Quotable …”

“I’m very happy that I’ve continued to believe in myself. I’m showing up every day, at every practice session, trying to put in the right work with the right discipline. To do so, you need to have the right team behind you, which I have. I’m very happy about me, but also the team, and this means a lot to all of us.”

– Madrid Open champion Jannik Sinner of Italy, during his on-court interview before the trophy ceremony after defeating Alexander Zverev to win his fifth-consecutive ATP Masters 1000 title.

 

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