Bonzi beats compatriot Droguet to set up Sinner showdown in Madrid
Benjamin Bonzi edged out Titouan Droguet 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Wednesday evening.
Benjamin Bonzi, 2025 | © Dante Badano / PsNewz
Benjamin Bonzi moved into the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open by edging out fellow Frenchman Titouan Droguet 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Wednesday evening, setting up a meeting with world No 1 Jannik Sinner, the top seed.
Bonzi, ranked No 104, had to come through qualifying to reach the main draw and this was his third win of the week in Madrid. It did not come easily – he dropped the opening set in a tiebreak and needed two hours of increasingly sharp tennis to close it out. The two Frenchmen had never met on the tour before.
Sinner awaits on Friday. The Italian arrives on a 17-match winning streak, having claimed four consecutive Masters 1000 titles – Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo in 2026, and Paris at the end of last season – and leads Bonzi 3-0 in their head-to-head, though he has been pushed to a deciding set twice by the Frenchman.
Bonzi was measured about his chances. “It is going to be a great challenge,” he said. “I am very happy to have won three matches here, I feel good, I feel my tennis coming together. Obviously it will not be easy. It will be his first match, maybe there will be some small openings. I do not know how it will go. We have not prepared anything yet, but I know these are conditions I like. I know I can make life difficult for very good players here, so we will see.”
He added: “It feels good to win three matches again. It feels good to feel, a little like last year, that I can play very well on clay, especially in these conditions here.”
