Sinner Drops a Set, Continues Masters Mission with 18th Straight Win in Madrid

By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, April 24, 2026
Photo credit: Mutua Madrid Open Facebook

Punishing shots as if intent on driving divots into the Madrid dirt, Jannik Sinner found himself facing unfamiliar terrain today.

Down a set to Benjamin Bonzi, Sinner answered with altitude adjustment.

World No. 1 Sinner elevated his play and intensity.

Amping up the pace, Sinner beat Bonzi 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4 in today’s Mutua Madrid Open opener to post his 18th consecutive win and improve to an ATP-best 25-2 on the season.

Sinner smacked 10 aces against 1 double fault, permitted just 8 points on first serve and did not face a break point in a two hour, 20-minute win that ended with the Italian dabbing a drop shot winner.

Next up for Sinner is a meeting vs. Danish qualifier Elmer Moller, who led Gabriel Diallo, 7-5, 3-3, when the 32nd-seeded Canadian retired.

A streaking Sinner scored his 23rd straight ATP Masters 1000 match win. That streak dates back to Sinner’s stroll to the Rolex Paris Masters championship last October.

Now, Sinner is playing for a maiden Madrid crown—and to make Masters history. Sinner is bidding to become the first man to capture five consecutive ATP Masters 1000 championships.

While Sinner was on court, news broke of rival Carlos Alcaraz withdrawing from Rome and Roland Garros where he is defending champion of both events due to a right wrist injury.

Given Alcaraz’s absence from clay-court season, Grand Slam king Djokovic possibly playing Paris without any clay-court tune-up tournament and his dominance of the field it’s conceivable Sinner could run the table and sweep Madrid and Rome in the run-up to Paris.

Bonzi nearly derailed Sinner, who is 36-0 in opening-round matches since losing to Dusan Lajovic in the 2023 Cincinnati first round.

Seeking to add Madrid to that collection that includes Paris, Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo, Sinner ran into some first-set turbulence today.

Red-lining his play, Bonzi was bombing the ball, trying to take it on the rise and playing closer to the lines on pivotal points.

Bonzi is a much more dangerous competitor than the world No. 104 next to his name. Bonzi, who scored back-to-back wins over Daniil Medvedev at Wimbledon and the US Open last summer, saved all five break points he faced in the first set today, eventually forcing the tiebreaker.

Sliding an ace down the T gave Sinner set point at 6-5 in the breaker, but the top seed sent a backhand long then missed a backhand down the line as Bonzi gained set point at 7-6.

An attacking Sinner followed a forehand forward, but pushed a backhand volley long as Bonzi snatched the 62-minute opener.

The Frenchman took some treatment for an apparent oblique or rib issue as Sinner turned up the torment on in the second set. Sinner spun a backhand strike down the line breaking for 5-1.

Throwing down a smash, Sinner sealed the second set to force a decider after 93 minutes.