Preview ATP Madrid Open Final: Jannik Sinner on the brink of history as Alexander Zverev targets third title in Madrid

96 players competed in the main draw of the Madrid Open, but in the end the top two seeds are the only ones remaining. In other tournaments that would mean Carlos Alcaraz will be competing in a final on home soil, but instead Alexander Zverev has taken advantage of the situation and will again face Jannik Sinner on the tennis court for the coveted Masters 1000 title.

In a tournament where seeds fell early and young prospects made a name for themselves, it was the experienced winners on the ATP Tour who navigated the trouble to reach a highly anticipated final. While Sinner is playing the tennis of his life and on the brink of history, Zverev has finally broken his semi-final duct and is desperate to inflict some damage onto an opponent has failed to defeat since 2023.

No one has ever won five consecutive Masters 1000 titles. Some have got close, most notably Novak Djokovic who won four in a row before skipping the 2015 Madrid Open ahead of winning in Rome. While on a technicality that is five wins on the spin, no one has completed five tournaments back-to-back. Sinner is on the brink of this and has been hugely tipped for this for some time.

He won the titles in the Paris Masters, Indian Wells, Miami Open, Monte-Carlo Masters and is just one win away from tasting maiden success in the Spanish capital. He has dropped just two sets in this time, winning 27 matches on the trot to complete the set of Masters 1000 finals, becoming the fourth player to achieve this monumental feat. Only the 'Big Three; have completed this, and all were older than when Sinner did it.

Finals are all well and good, but the Italian only really cares about lifting the title at the end. He was the overwhelming favourite after the withdrawal of Alcaraz, and his performance in Monaco backed that up. To be that dominant on a surface which is not even his strongest sends out an ominous sign to the rest of the field. The world number one has certainly earned his spot at the top and seems almost unbeatable while there.

It is now 22 unbeaten for Sinner since losing in the Qatar Open quarterfinal. Those early season concerns feel like a very long time ago. He kicked off his campaign in Madrid falling a set behind to Benjamin Bonzi, but eventually prevailed (6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4). Straight set wins over Elmer Moller (6-2, 6-3) and Cameron Norrie (6-2, 7-5) swiftly followed. The four-time Grand Slam champion would then be pitched against Rafael Jodar, the highly touted Spanish sensation. The 19-year-old tested Sinner vastly but would join the long list of casualties to the hands of Sinner (6-2, 7-6(0)). Arthur Fils was unbeaten on clay on 2026 until Sinner blew him away in the semi-final. An unstoppable first set performance was backed up with a solid showing in the second to defeat the Frenchman (6-2, 6-4) and secure a 12th Masters 1000 final appearance.

Zverev has regularly been deep in the big tournaments in 2026, quietly going about his business. In the end, trophies and titles get you the headlines and the 29-year-old has yet to achieve that this year. In his first six tournaments he competed in, five of them he reached the semi-final before losing at that stage. This includes the Australian Open against Alcaraz when he was serving it out, and most recently a painful defeat to Flavio Cobolli in Munich.

His recent record at Masters 1000 level has been remarkably consistent. Ahead of Madrid, six of the seven prior events he also culminated at the last-four stage. Aside from losing to Karen Khachanov in Canada and Alcaraz in Cincinnati, the last four defeats have come against Sinner, making for grim reading.

The fire is burning inside of Zverev, motivated to get a stark confidence boost ahead of the second Grand Slam tournament of the year. He is still very much hopeful of getting over the line for a maiden major title sometime in the future, and with Alcaraz out of a little while this could be his best chance. For the time being, he can look to add a third title to his collection in Madrid, and eighth at this level. He previously made the final of this tournament three times, winning in 2018 and 2021 before Alcaraz trounced him a year later.

Similar to Sinner, Zverev was also in a three-set battle in his opening match. Mariano Navone proved to be a tricky competitor but Zverev had too much class for the Argentine (6-1, 3-6, 6-3). Terence Atmane was the next victim (6-3, 7-6(2)) ahead of an impressive three-set triumph against the former Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik (6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3). He inflicted revenge on the Munich champion Flavio Cobolli (6-1, 6-4) ahead of downing the talented Alexander Blockx (6-2, 7-5) with a very impressive performance, ending his breakthrough run while confirming his place in the final.

Sinner has won nine of the 13 meetings on court between him and the former Olympic gold medallist. In their first five meetings, it was Zverev on top having won four in a row after Sinner dumped him out of Roland Garros in 2020.

From that point, Sinner has stepped up another level or two and Zverev has been unable to live with him. Sinner is on an eight-match winning streak against the world number three. This includes five Masters 1000 finals, two finals including the 2025 Australian Open and the round robin phase of the 2025 ATP Finals. To rub more salt into the wound, he has dropped just one set in these eight ties.

This is the third final they will compete in against each other, and the first at this level. If Zverev is going to get remotely close to Sinner, he will need to make sure that his serve is almost perfect. In the second set against Blockx in the semi-final, he dropped just three points on serve in six games. Not only restricting the breaks on his own serve but clinically taking them on his opponents serve. By no means an easy feat when Sinner is playing at his best level, but in Zverev's words: “To win the biggest tournaments in the world, you’ve got to beat the best. And Jannik is the best right now.”