Jannik Sinner becomes first man to win 5 straight Masters 1000 titles with victory in Madrid Open

Three or so months ago, there was some concern Jannik Sinner was losing ground in his rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz after losses in the Australian Open and Doha.

Things have changed a bit there.

The world No. 1 defeated Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-2 in the final of the Madrid Open on Sunday, making him the first player in history to win five straight ATP Masters 1000 titles. He was previously in a tie with Novak Djokovic (who won four straight 1000 titles three different times) and Rafael Nadal (once).

Sinner overwhelmed Zverev from the start, winning 20 of the first 23 points on his way to winning the first set 6-1, and doing so in just 25 minutes. Zverev provided a bit more opposition in the second set, but not by much before Sinner won 6-2. The match only lasted 55 minutes.

“I started very well in the match, breaking him straight away,” Sinner said in his on-court interview after the match. “But he was not playing his best tennis today. So I just tried to get with the front foot ahead and I’m very happy about the level I’m playing.”

The win extends Sinner’s winning streak over Zverev to nine matches, which dates back to the 2024 Cincinnati Open. He has beat then the German in all five of his consecutive 1000 titles.

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Jannik Sinner is doing historic things right now

Sinner has now won 28 straight ATP 1000 matches between the Paris Masters, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo and Madrid. If he wins four more matches in Rome later this month, he will break Djokovic’s consecutive match record of 31 wins.

A Rome title would make him the first man to sweep the clay 1000s since Nadal in 2010, in addition to another chain in his unprecedented streak. All of those records go back to 1990, when the modern ATP 1000 system was introduced.

The Madrid title also gives Sinner further distance for the No. 1 title, as he’s now 1,390 points clear of Alcaraz with 14,350 and stands to widen that gap over the coming month. Alcaraz has not played since his loss to Sinner in the Monte-Carlo final and has already announced he will miss Roland-Garros with a wrist injury.

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Sinner has won the 2025 ATP Finals during this streak, while losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals and to Jakub Menšík in the Doha 500.

Obviously, Sinner is playing a sport where true greatness is measured in Grand Slams, not 1000 titles. But there’s a reason why Sinner was already set to be the favorite in Roland-Garros whether or not Alcaraz was healthy. Clay has never been his strongest surface while Alcaraz has thrived on it, but this run of success has reset the conversation.

And if Sinner can overcome the Alcaraz-less field in Paris, he’ll become the seventh man of the Open Era to achieve the career Grand Slam.