By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, May 1, 2026
Photo credit: Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters Facebook
Regaining the top spot hasn’t slowed Jannik Sinner’s Masters mission.
On court, the stoic Sinner is a thrill seeker at heart, who continues exploring eye-opening milestones.
Fueled by a five-game surge, Sinner dismissed Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4, charging into his maiden Mutua Madrid Open with his 350th career victory today.
The 24-year-old Sinner streaked to his 22nd straight win, raising his 2026 record to 29-2.
A dominant Sinner scored his 27th consecutive ATP Masters 1000 match win for his fifth Masters 1000 final. Sinner, the first man born in the 2000s to post 350 career Tour-level wins, joins Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as the fourth—and youngest—man in Open Era history to complete the set of all nine Masters 1000 finals.
Imposing his diagonal forehand into Fils’ backhand wing, Sinner pinned the talented Frenchman in his backhand corner, ripped forehand returns and dictated play charging out to a 5-1 lead today.
“I tried to play very aggressive,” Sinner said. “I felt very comfortable on the return. Second set, he started to serve better.
“It was very difficult. I’m very happy about the general performance today, to be honest. Today was a very good day in the office, but I knew it’s an important match. He is one of the best players in the world. It means a lot to me. He’s very good for tennis, for the sport. Yeah I’m very happy about today’s performance.”
This performance propels Sinner into Sunday’s final against either two-time Madrid champion Alexander Zverev or 21-year-old Belgian break-out star Alexander Blockx (nicknamed “Block-X” by his peers).
Sending a message at the outset, Sinner dragged Fils through a seven-minute opening game before the Frenchman finally held.
The top seed sped through seven points in a row earning triple break point in the third game. Fils, who could not find his first serve or bother the top seed in backhand exchanges, sailed a forehand long as Sinner broke for 2-1.
No question Fils’ flamethrower forehand is one of the most explosive in the game.
Today, Sinner set out to establish forehand supremacy and did it impressively. Crushing a crosscourt forehand return brought Sinner another break point in the fifth game.
As a crackling crosscourt exchange built to a crescendo, Sinner struck the death note lasering a 100 mph forehand strike down the line breaking for 4-1 after just 22 minutes of play.
The Wimbledon winner was roasting the Frenchman’s second serve and Fils’ low first-serve percentage was putting him under stress again.
Still, Fils climbed out of a 15-30 hole punishing a pair of backhands that helped him halt a five-game slide and hold for 2-5. That hold came 26 minutes after Fils’ opening-game hold.
Firing his forehand into Fils’ backhand wing, Sinner commanded the center of the court and forced the Frenchman into risky forehand flights of ambition.
It was such a stress-free set, red fox Sinner briefly went full exo mode ballooning a backhand drop shot then playing an acute-angled forehand flick. Sinner served out the 39-minute opener at 15—he won 16 of 20 serve points in the set.
Settling in, Fils began serving for precision more than the unbridled power he showed in the opener. Fils fought off a break point holding for 3-2.
Though Sinner’s serve percentage was still hovering at 50 percent through a set-and-a-half, the Italian summoned stinging serves when necessary. Sinner scalded successive aces holding to level after six games and 69 minutes.
Widely regarded as one of the top young talents in tennis, Fils suffered a stress fracture in his back at the 2025 Roland Garros that knocked him out of much of last season. Fils made a brief comeback in Toronto last August where he defeated Pablo Carreno Busta in his opener before bowing to Jiri Lehecka in round two. Fils and Toronto singles champion Ben Shelton reached the doubles quarterfinals before conceding a walkover.
Hall of Famer Goran Ivanisevic, who guided Novak Djokovic and Marin Cilic to Grand Slam championships, joined Fils’ coaching team in February and was court-side today.
Today’s up-and down performance—Fils served just 49 percent, committed 24 unforced errors, did not earn a break point and sometimes opted to go all in on low percentage flying forehands rather than play high and heavy to reset the point—reinforced reasons why Fils wanted to work with Coach Goran and what he hopes to gain.
The explosive Fils said Ivanisevic can help him learn to be an escape artist on court.
“Of course, on the court, it’s me, you know, it’s just me and myself,” Fils said. “It’s me holding the racquet and taking the decision.
“But if he can help me to escape from some, how you say? The trap? Yes, to escape from the trap more quickly, you know what I mean?”
Shanking a forehand to face break point, Fils muttered a few F-bombs to himself facing break point at 30-40 in the ninth game.
The pair went toe-to-toe in a pulsating 24-shot rally—then Sinner launched a two-handed backhand bolt down the line breaking with a bang for 5-4.
Sinner slammed a snapping serve down the T closing his 22nd straight win—and trip to a fifth Masters 1000 final in a row—in one hour, 26 minutes.