Alexander Zverev finally sealed his three-set victory (6:4, 6:7, 6:3) over Czech player Jakub Mensik at 1:21 AM, booking his spot in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters. The win carries historic weight, as a look at tennis history reveals.
At the first three Masters events of the year in Indian Wells, Miami, and Monte Carlo, Zverev fell in the semifinals to eventual champion Jannik Sinner. In Madrid, the two can only meet in the final, but the blockbuster clash remains possible since the world number one from Italy also advanced to the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Having two tennis stars reach at least the last eight at the first four 1000-level tournaments of the year is far from ordinary. According to sports data provider Opta, Zverev and Sinner are the first players to achieve this feat in roughly 15 years. The last time it happened was with legends Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Nadal reached the final each time and won in Monte Carlo, while Federer made the semifinals in Indian Wells, Miami, and Madrid, and stopped in the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo.
Looking beyond 2026, Zverev and Sinner have now reached at least the quarterfinals at the last five Masters events. The last time two players put together such a long streak was in 2014/15, when record Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and Czech Tomas Berdych did so from the Shanghai Masters in 2014 through the Monte Carlo event in 2015.
Sinner is also chasing a unique record in Madrid. If he triumphs, it would mark the first time in the history of the series (founded in 1990) that a player has won five consecutive Masters titles.
{IMAGE0}{IMAGE1}
