Madrid, April 29, 2026, 17:02 CEST
- Jannik Sinner took the opening set 6-2 against Rafael Jodar in their Madrid Open quarter-final, with the match still in progress on Wednesday afternoon.
- The winner will face Arthur Fils or Jiri Lehecka for a place in the final.
- Jodar, 19, is the third Spanish teenager to reach the Madrid quarter-finals, after Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.
Jannik Sinner took the first set 6-2 against Rafael Jodar in the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Wednesday, cutting into the home wild card’s early resistance after a tight opening stretch at Manolo Santana Stadium. The match was played with the roof closed because of rain in Madrid.
The match matters because it is the first meeting between the world No. 1 and a 19-year-old Madrid native whose run has turned him into the tournament’s main local story. Jodar arrived after beating Jesper de Jong, Alex de Minaur, Joao Fonseca and Vit Kopriva; Sinner is chasing a first Madrid semi-final and a fifth straight Masters 1000 title, the ATP’s top tier below the Grand Slams.
Sinner had come through a harder-than-usual draw for an early round, losing the first set to Benjamin Bonzi before beating Elmer Moller and Cameron Norrie. His 6-2, 7-5 win over Norrie gave him a 20th straight tour-level victory and a 25-match winning streak at Masters 1000 events.
Jodar is not just a novelty act. The ATP said he became the sixth teenager this decade to reach a Masters 1000 quarter-final and only the fourth wild card to get that far in Madrid tournament history.
Sinner had been watching closely. “Big, big talent,” he said before the match, adding that facing Jodar before Rome and Roland Garros could help him measure the young Spaniard in Madrid’s unusual conditions. ATP Tour
Jodar was careful not to overplay the moment. “I have to take it point by point,” he told the Mutua Madrid Open, while saying that if he kept the right mindset he could have chances against the No. 1. Mutua Madrid Open
The competitive context is awkward for the rest of the field. Jodar’s run has already included a first top-10 win over De Minaur and a generational match against Fonseca, another 19-year-old. Sinner, meanwhile, is trying to keep pace with history, not just the draw.
The risk for Jodar is that the first set may matter more than usual. ATP analysis before the quarter-final said the Spaniard had won 28 of 29 matches this season when he took the opening set, but had lost six of seven when he dropped it. Against Sinner, that leaves little margin.
The risk for Sinner sits elsewhere: rhythm, recovery and Madrid’s conditions. After beating Norrie, he said late schedules had become difficult for players, noting that finishing near 1:30 a.m. leaves time still needed for food and treatment; Jodar’s earlier match against Fonseca had ended around 1 a.m.
There was no previous match history between Sinner and Jodar at ATP level or in lower circuits, Gazzetta reported. That made the quarter-final less a rivalry than a first audit: the established No. 1 against the Spanish teenager trying to prove the week was more than a home-crowd surge.
