Jannik Sinner defeats Rafa Jodar to reach his first-ever Madrid Open semifinals

MADRID: World No. 1, Jannik Sinner, defeated Rafa Jodar 6-2, 7-6(0) in the quarterfinals to book his semis spot of the Madrid Open 2026 on Wednesday. Sinner also made history as he completed the set of reaching all nine ATP Masters 1000 semifinals, as per the ATP website.

The Italian defeated the 19-year-old Spaniard in a match that lasted for one hour and 55 minutes to reach the Madrid semi-finals for the first time in his career. With this achievement, he became only the sixth player since 1990 to reach the semi-finals at all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.

The 24-year-old now joins an elite group that includes Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Alexander Zverev, who completed the full set earlier this year at Indian Wells.

After the match, Jannik Sinner praised Rafael Jodar for pushing him hard, calling it a high-quality match. He admitted some luck in the match but credited his experience, expressing happiness at reaching his first semi-final in Madrid.

“He pushed me to the limit. He’s an incredible player. I tried to be ready as much as I could. But I’m incredibly happy. It was a very high quality match. I got a bit lucky in the second set, but also [had] a bit of experience. I’m obviously very happy to be in the semis here for the first time. It means a lot to me.” Sinner said of Jodar, as quoted by the ATP website.

Earlier, Sinner advanced to the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open with a comfortable straight-sets victory over Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie, winning 6-2, 7-5. (ANI)