Sinner sweeps Moller aside to march into Madrid last 16
Sinner (No 1) beat Moller 6-2, 6-3, dropped nothing, and moved to 24 consecutive wins at Masters level. Moller tried to hit a loose racquet back with his fist and gave everything he had. The gap between them, on this evidence, is still considerable.
Jannik Sinner, Madrid 2026 | © Zuma / PsNewz
Jannik Sinner, the top seed, made short work of Danish qualifier Elmer Moller 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday afternoon to advance to the last 16 of the Mutua Madrid Open, moving closer to a record that seemed unthinkable at the start of the clay season.
After the first-round scare against Bonzi, there were no such alarms. Sinner was clean, composed and relentless from the first game, extending his winning streak in Masters 1000 events to 24 matches and his overall run to 19 consecutive wins. He has now won 48 of his last 50 sets at this level – a rate that makes the outliers feel like anomalies.
A fifth consecutive Masters 1000 title would make him the first player to achieve that since 1990. In Madrid, where he has never gone beyond the quarter-finals, he is already moving with a different kind of purpose.
Moller’s racquet slipped from his hands
Moller, 22 and ranked No 169, was a compelling figure in his own right. It was here in Madrid last year that he made his ATP Tour debut, losing to João Fonseca, and on Sunday he returned to find the world No 1 waiting on the other side of the net. He was aggressive early, his two-handed backhand causing Sinner genuine moments of discomfort in the opening games, and when his racquet slipped from his hand mid-rally in the second set, he instinctively tried to play the ball back with his fist – a moment that drew the crowd, and said something about the spirit he carried into the match. It was not enough.
With Alcaraz gone, Sinner is the only player in the draw to justify the favourite’s tag. He will face the winner of the match between Cameron Norrie, the No 19 seed, and Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante next.
Asked on court about learning Spanish, the world No 1 offered his most entertaining moment of the afternoon. When the interviewer corrected his mention of “Bumble” — pointing out it was a dating app — Sinner was emphatic: “Babble! I don’t need a dating app.”
