Jannik Sinner Made Tennis History That Not Even Federer, Nadal or Djokovic Has Achieved

The 24-year-old won the Madrid Open title on Sunday, beating Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-2.

Jannik Sinner won his fifth ATP 1000 title in a row at the Madrid Open. | Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto

Jannik Sinner is on a historical run right now.

The world no. 1 captured the Madrid Open title on Sunday, beating Alexander Zverev handedly 6–1, 6–2. This title marked his fifth ATP 1000 win in a row, making Sinner the first men’s tennis player in history to accomplish this streak. It’s a rare occurrence nowadays for there to be new history made in men’s tennis, especially after the Big Three era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (the latter is still competing). None of those legends won five ATP 1000 titles in a row.

Over the next two weeks, Sinner could make more history if he captures the Italian Open title in his home country. For one, it would mark his sixth straight ATP 1000 title. But, the bigger news there is that he would officially capture all nine ATP 1000 titles in his career, which is deemed the “Career Golden Masters”—only Djokovic has achieved this milestone, and he’s done it twice.

Sinner is still holding onto his ATP 1000 winning streak right now as the number jumped up to 28 wins in a row. The record is held by none other than Djokovic a mark of 31 wins in a row he set back in 2011. Winning the Italian Open title would allow Sinner to surpass Djokovic’s record.

Sinner was understandably overwhelmed with emotions after winning the Madrid Open on Sunday.

“I think there is a lot of work behind it,” Sinner said about the five ATP 1000 titles. “A lot of dedication and sacrifice I put in every day. Obviously, it means a lot to me, seeing these results. At some point, results are going to be down, which is normal. I’m very happy that I’ve continued to believe in myself. I’m showing up every day, at every practice session, trying to put in the right work with the right discipline. To do so, you need to have the right team behind you, which I have. I’m very happy about me, but also the team, and this means a lot to all of us.”

Sinner notably went up 5–0 over Zverev in just 17 minutes on Saturday, and he won the match in totality in just 58 minutes. That’s incredible for any match, but especially in a tournament final.

May and June could end up being historical months all-around for Sinner if he’s able to win the title at Roland Garros next month. The French Open is the one major the Italian has yet to win, so capturing that title would secure him a career grand slam. His rival and friend Carlos Alcaraz just completed his career grand slam in February at the Australian Open. Alcaraz, who beat Sinner in the final last year, will miss the French Open because of a wrist injury. If Sinner wins the title, he would become the 10th men’s player to achieve this lofty goal, and he would do so at age 24.

Zverev believes Sinner’s game is mountains above everyone else right now

During his runner-up speech, Zverev was asked a question that is commonly brought up in men’s tennis right now: Is there a “big gap” from Sinner and Alcaraz ahead of the rest of the playing field?

Normally, a tennis player would agree that both players are mountains above the rest of the field right now. They have won the last eight major titles, for instance. However, Zverev singled Sinner out apart from Alcaraz in his answer. Take a look at his interesting response.

“Well, I think there's a big gap between Sinner and everybody else right now,” Zverev started, via The Tennis Letter. “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. I think there's two gaps right now. It's difficult to say that there's not a gap between Sinner and everybody else if he hasn't lost a match in how many Masters events? Since Shanghai. He hasn't lost a match in almost 9 months. I think you have to admit that there's a gap between him and everybody else.”

This last bit Zverev was actually wrong about. He most recently lost in the Doha Open in February, and before that, he lost in the Australian Open semifinals in January. In ATP 1000 events specifically, though, Sinner lost in Shanghai last October, as Zverev mentioned.

To be fair, Alcaraz has missed the last couple tournaments because of injury since losing to Sinner in the Monte-Carlo Finals last month. Sinner’s definitely taking advantage of this time without Alcaraz on the court.

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