Sinner Beats Norrie, Equals Historic 20-Match Winning Run

World number one Jannik Sinner continued his dominant form at the Madrid Open, defeating Britain’s Cameron Norrie in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals.

Sinner, chasing a fourth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 title, secured a 6-2 7-5 victory in under 90 minutes, extending his winning streak to 20 matches. The Italian has been in exceptional form, having already claimed titles at Indian Wells, Miami Open, and Monte Carlo Masters this season.

The win also sees the 24-year-old equal his best-ever performance in Madrid, having previously reached the quarter-finals in 2024.

Norrie, 30, made a promising start by holding serve comfortably in the opening game, but his momentum quickly faded as Sinner broke twice to take the first set 6-2 with ease.

The second set proved more competitive, with both players holding serve until the fifth game. Norrie briefly threatened a comeback, even winning seven consecutive points to break back after falling behind. However, at 5-5, Sinner capitalised on his opportunity, breaking the Brit before serving out the match.

With the victory, Sinner became only the second player in history to win his first 20 ATP Masters 1000 matches in a season, matching a feat achieved by Novak Djokovic in 2011 and 2015.
Reflecting on the match, Sinner said, “We know each other quite well. We practised a lot in the last tournament. We both kind of knew what to expect.”

He also highlighted the challenges of playing on clay saying, “This surface is very, very different to all the other surfaces, so it’s very tough to get the right feedback and sometimes you feel like you are not playing your best.”

Despite those challenges, he expressed satisfaction with his progress:
“I’m very happy to be in the quarters again. It’s a tournament I haven’t played a lot, so it means a lot to me and I’m happy to be through in two sets.”

Sinner will next face either Czech player Vit Kopriva or Madrid-born teenager Rafael Jodar in the quarter-finals.
The Italian also raised concerns about tournament scheduling, after playing at an unusual morning time slot. He pointed to the challenges faced by players competing late into the night.

“For matches at 8pm, it’s very, very late,” he said. “You finish at 1.30am and you need to eat, you need to have treatment, so it’s very late. We try to adapt ourselves, our bodies and minds.”