Jannik Sinner admits it will be strange not to have both Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic in the draw at the Madrid Open, but he insists he will still face “many challenges”.
Fresh from winning four consecutive ATP 1000 tournaments with three of those titles coming in his last three tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo, Sinner will be looking to become the first man to win five Masters events in a row.
And he will start his campaign in the Spanish capital as the odds-on favourite not only because he is the top seed and world No 1, but his two biggest rivals won’t feature as Alcaraz and Djokovic are missing.
Two-time Madrid Open champion Alcaraz is out with a wrist injury that could also result in him missing the Italian Open and French Open, while Djokovic has said very little about the injury keeping him out of action.
Sinner, who will start his tournament against either Benjamin Bonzi or Titouan Droguet, told reporters: “When they aren’t in the draw, the situation is quite unique.
“We’ve shared many tournaments, but if I want to play Carlos, it will only be in the final. The road to a final is very long, and anything can happen there.
“At the same time, I always take it day by day, with many challenges ahead of me starting with my first match against a qualifier who will already have a couple of matches here. I have to try to figure out how to play on this surface and in Madrid.”
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Since losing in the quarter-final of the Qatar Open in mid-February, the four-time Grand Slam winner has won 17 consecutive matches and there were initially doubts about his own participation at the Madrid Open as he admitted he was feeling tired.
Last year, he missed the Madrid Open as he was still serving his three-month ban, in 2024 he withdrew before his quarter-final match due to injury while he also skipped the 2023 edition.
But he appears to have fully recovered and is good to go for the 2025 tournament.
“I feel pretty good. Now we’re trying to prepare as well as we can,” the Italian said. “The plan is to play and compete as well as possible. I’ll take it day by day.
“I have the challenge of Roland Garros in the back of my mind, where I’ll try to arrive in optimal shape. I’m here to give my best.”
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