Jannik Sinner extended his remarkable run at Masters 1000 events to 24 consecutive victories with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Danish qualifier Elmer Moller in the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday. The Italian’s win continued a sequence that has reshaped this season’s discussion of dominance at the highest non-Grand Slam level.

Sinner is now only the third man in the Open era of Masters 1000 competition, which began in 1990, to amass 24 or more straight wins at these events. Roger Federer previously completed such a run once, and Novak Djokovic achieved it twice. That places Sinner in an exclusive group of players who have produced extended periods of supremacy at the Masters 1000 tier.

The current streak has yielded four successive Masters 1000 titles for Sinner. His run includes the Paris title from last year followed by victories at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo so far this year. Those results underline the consistency behind the streak, demonstrating success across different surfaces and conditions within the elite Masters 1000 calendar.

Sunday’s victory over Moller was efficient and decisive, another chapter in a sequence that now stretches across multiple tournaments and seasons. With the Madrid win, Sinner remains on course through the middle of the 2026 Masters swing, carrying both momentum and the statistical weight of an extended winning streak that ranks alongside some of the most sustained runs in Masters 1000 history.

As the Mutua Madrid Open progresses, Sinner’s streak is likely to be a focal point, both for opponents preparing to face him and for observers tracking how long this exceptional sequence can continue at the sport’s highest regular tour level.

Coco Gauff advanced to the fourth round of the Mutua Madrid Open after a testing third-round win over Sorana Cirstea, a match marked by an on-court illness. The defending Roland Garros champion appeared sluggish and fell behind by a set and a break before the incident at 4-4 in the second set.

At that moment, after breaking Cirstea’s serve, Gauff sprinted to the side of the court to get sick and received a medical timeout while a tournament doctor checked her vitals. From there she recovered to win nine of the final 11 games and closed out a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory in a two hour, 21-minute contest.

“I was just trying to finish the match, and have one point turn into another,” Gauff said in her on-court interview after the two hour, 21-minute match. “I’m just going to try to push through … It was a weird feeling today. I don’t know how I got through it.”

Gauff, who retired from a match against Alexandra Eala at the BNP Paribas Open last month with an arm injury, the second mid-match retirement of her career, said she was determined not to stop again in the middle of a match. “When I actually threw up on the court, that was like a little bit embarrassing,” Gauff later told reporters, as per the WTA website. “Then after that first game and the second, I was like that took everything out of me. I’m someone who doesn’t like to pull out [of matches]. I don’t like to do that unless I really feel like I have no other options.

“So the plan was to always just try to finish, even if it ended up with me, just playing just to get through it.”

Illness has been a recurring subplot at the combined ATP and WTA 1000 clay-court event. Four players have been forced out, with Madison Keys and Marin Cilic giving second-round opponents walkovers and Cilic citing food poisoning. 2022 Madrid champion Iga Swiatek retired from her match against Ann Li after feeling unwell. “I’m sure I’ll be fine in a couple of days, but I had zero energy,” Swiatek said. “I just felt really bad physically and yesterday, even worse. So I thought maybe today it’s gonna be better, but maybe it was, but not enough to play a match.” “The symptoms are not something you want to hear about,” she added.

Rafael Jodar’s rapid ascent has made him a focal point this spring. He followed a commanding victory over fifth seed Alex De Minaur with a pair of night-session wins and the kind of confidence that comes from taking chances. “I knew I had to enjoy myself,” Jodar said after his stunningly one-sided win over fifth seed Alex De Minaur on Friday. “If I had a shot, I had to go for it.”

At 19, Jodar now meets another 19-year-old, Joao Fonseca, who arrived in the spotlight a year earlier. Fonseca enjoyed a breakthrough first half of 2025 but then faded as the calendar and the tour’s grind took their toll. A constructive off-season has helped him regain some of his initial momentum and move back up the rankings.

Jodar has respect for his opponent and a clear plan for handling tougher days. “Joao is a tough opponent, and I have to prepare well for this match,” Jodar said after beating De Minaur. “I have to play my own game and be ready in case things don’t go as well as today. I have to try to stay strong in those moments.”

Their clash should be a baseline-heavy duel. Fonseca carries one of the biggest forehands on tour, while Jodar combines heavy topspin on the forehand with a compact two-handed backhand and a slight serving edge thanks to his height. Jodar will have the home-court energy and a night crowd behind him. Winner: Jodar

On the women’s side, Elena Rybakina meets Zheng Qinwen in a matchup between two players who prefer to finish points quickly. Both dropped opening sets to lower-ranked opponents before recovering to win. Zheng’s clay résumé includes an Olympic gold medal at Roland Garros in 2024 and a quarterfinal run there last year. Rybakina has five clay titles, including Rome in 2023 and Stuttgart last week, and she already has a Slam this year. They have split previous meetings and have never met on clay. The surface in Madrid should reward both styles. Winner: Rybakina

Jannik Sinner returns to face a qualifier, Holger Moller, who has battled through qualifying and early rounds. Moller’s timing, especially on his two-handed backhand, produces moments of high quality, but Sinner should control the match after settling from a shaky opener. Winner: Sinner