Throughout the week in Madrid, the presence of Jude Bellingham and Thibaut Courtois watching matches at the Caja Mágica, with great interest, became a regular sight. Neither could attend Sunday’s final, though, due to Real Madrid’s match at Espanyol that evening. But they didn’t miss much, either: Jannik Sinner’s demolition of Alexander Zverev, in 57 minutes, became the second-fastest Masters 1000 final without a retirement. Blink, and it was over.
This was a day where the numbers told the story. Sinner also became the first player to win five Masters 1000 tournaments in a row, a run stretching back to Paris at the end of last season and taking in the first four events of this season: Indian Wells and Miami on hard court and Monte Carlo and Madrid on clay. It’s an achievement that not even Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer could accomplish in their prime.
Sinner’s last defeat at a Masters tournament was a third-round retirement in Shanghai. The world No 1 has now won 28 matches in a row at Masters events. As he returns to Rome and for his home tournament at the Italian Open, Sinner will have the chance to surpass Federer’s longest winning run of 29 wins, and then Djokovic’s record of 31. He could become just the second player, after Djokovic, to complete the set of nine current Masters tournaments if he wins his first title in Rome. Afterwards, the 24-year-old insisted he does not “play for records”; imagine if he did?
Not for the first time, Zverev was left to put Sinner’s dominance into words, and what he said was worrying for everyone else. “Today I would have lost to anybody, to be very fair. I think today I played an awful tennis match,” said the world No 3, before adding: “It’s quite simple. I think there’s a big gap between Sinner and everybody else. And I think there’s a big gap between Alcaraz, myself, maybe Novak, and everybody else. There are two gaps right now.”
It’s a concern because, next month, Sinner will head to Roland Garros as perhaps the biggest favourite ahead of a men’s grand slam title since Djokovic’s last Wimbledon title four years ago. Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion in Paris, will be absent due to a wrist injury. Zverev, who will replace Alcaraz as the second seed, was just destroyed 6-1 6-2 in the final of his best clay-court event, admitting Sinner is in a field of his own. Djokovic did beat Sinner at this year’s Australian Open but he has not played since March, and will soon turn 39.
Of course, Sinner should be applauded for the run he has put together, for his ability to reset point by point, match by match and week by week, for bringing his best level so regularly. If it was so easy, everyone would do it; consistency, in approach, execution and intensity, is often the hardest test of all.
“As I always said, I cannot compare myself with Rafa, Roger, Novak,” Sinner said in Madrid. “What they did, it’s something incredible. I don’t play for these records, or I don’t play for records in general. I play for myself. I play for my team, because they know what’s behind. Also my family, because with the success I’ve had, they also never changed how they are towards me… It means, of course, a lot, great numbers. But there is a lot of discipline, a lot of sacrifice behind this.
“There’s also daily routines that I put in. I’m the first person who needs to be ready in the morning to wake up. I like the journey. I like to put myself in the best possible position to be the best version of myself. I don’t play for other records. As I said, what the other players did in the past, and Novak’s still doing, it’s something incredible. I cannot compare myself with them.”
But his laser-like focus and recent dominance is undeniable. Sinner started this season’s run by becoming the first player to win Indian Wells-Miami double without dropping a set. He then chased down Alcaraz and reclaimed world No 1 with a victory over his rival in Monte Carlo. And in deciding to go for it now Alcaraz is absent, Sinner has his eyes on an all-time run that could encompass Rome and Roland Garros as well. Djokovic aside, the competition, for now, appears to be inconsequential.
