Sinner defeated Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinal after 85 minutes on Manolo Santana court, reaching his fifth consecutive Masters 1000 final. The Italian player aims to become the first in history to win five consecutive titles at this level.

Sinner during his match against Fils on Manolo Santana court at the Caja Majica tennis complex, Madrid, Spain on 1/5. *Photo: Reuters*

After defeating rising 19-year-old talent Rafael Jodar in the quarterfinals, Sinner maintained precision and power in his shots against Fils. The world number one player moved his French opponent around the court with high accuracy, hitting 17 winners compared to Fils' 10 in a dominant performance.

After reaching his second Masters 1000 semifinal, Fils rose 8 spots to world number 17 in the ATP rankings. The former world number 14 suffered a back injury last year, sidelining him for 8 months before returning at Montpellier in 2/2025.

Entering the match against Sinner with a nine-match winning streak, highlighted by an ATP 500 title in Barcelona, Fils was highly determined but could not withstand the constant pressure from Sinner, who lost only three of 24 first-serve points and faced no break points.

With this victory, Sinner became the fourth and youngest player to reach the final of all nine Masters 1000 tournaments, joining Novak Djokovic (who achieved this at age 25), Rafael Nadal (27), and Roger Federer (30). He has now won 27 consecutive matches at this level, a high-performance streak including titles in Paris last year and Indian Wells, Miami, and Monte Carlo in 2026.

Sinner will face two-time Madrid Open champion Alexander Zverev in the final next Sunday. He has won against Zverev in all eight of their most recent encounters.

Zverev secured his spot in the Mutua Madrid Open final after defeating Alexander Blockx 6-2, 7-5. With his 30th victory in the Spanish capital, Zverev became the third player, alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, to reach the Madrid final four times.

Zverev hitting a forehand during his match against Blockx, on Manolo Santana court at the Caja Majica tennis complex, Madrid, Spain on 1/5. *Photo: Reuters*

"I am very happy to be in the final," Zverev said. "I look forward to playing Jannik again and expect a tough match. The better player will win next Sunday".

The second seed defeated Flavio Cobolli with only five games lost in the quarterfinals and carried that strong form into his match against Blockx, who was making his first Masters 1000 semifinal appearance and had not won a clay-court match on the ATP Tour before April. After one hour and 35 minutes, Zverev secured his first final spot of the season.

Blockx leaves Madrid having risen 34 spots to world number 35 in the ATP rankings. The 21-year-old defeated top 20 opponents such as Felix Auger-Aliassime, Casper Ruud, and Francisco Cerundolo, becoming the third Belgian in history to reach a Masters 1000 semifinal.

Vy Anh