The men’s singles semifinals are on Friday on Madrid.
Jannik Sinner is two wins away from claiming his fifth consecutive Masters 1000 title, and in the absence of an injured Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner is a significant favorite to do so. However, in Friday’s semifinals, he faces one of the year’s best players in Arthur Fils, who sits at No.4 in the year-to-date rankings.
The winner will play either Alexander Zverev or Alexander Blockx in Sunday’s championship match, as those two Alexanders will collide in Friday’s second semifinal.
Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Arthur Fils (21) – Not Before 4:00pm on Manolo Santana Stadium
Not counting two mid-match retirements, Sinner has not lost a completed match at a Masters 1000 event in nearly a full year. Since returning from his 90-day suspension last May, he’s now 37-3 at Masters events. Sinner has also won his last eight Masters semifinals.
By contrast, this is only a second Masters 1000 semifinal in the career of Fils, though the 21-year-old has now advanced to the semifinals in his last two Masters appearances. Since returning from a long injury layoff this past February, Fils has gone 22-5, and has reached the quarterfinals or better in six of the seven tournaments he’s played.
Their only prior encounter went to Sinner, though that took place over three years ago on an indoor hard court. Both men have dropped only one set through four rounds, and both arrive to the semifinal on significant winning streaks (Sinner is at 21, Fils is at 9), so this should be a high-quality semifinal on Friday afternoon. But as explosive as Fils’ came can be, Sinner remains the favorite.
Alexander Blockx vs. Alexander Zverev (2) – Not Before 8:00pm on Manolo Santana Stadium
Zverev has now achieved seven Masters semifinals in his last eight appearances. However, he’s 0-6 in those semifinals, yet it’s worth noting five of those losses came at the hands of the dominant duo of Sinner and Alcaraz. In the absence of Alcaraz, Zverev is looking to solidify himself as the second-best player in the world ahead of Roland Garros in a few weeks.
For Blockx, this is only his fifth main draw appearance at a Masters event, and the first time he’s advanced beyond the third round. The 21-year-old Belgian started the year ranked outside the top 100, but he’s now at No.35 in the live rankings, thanks to 26 match wins at all levels. Blockx won two Challenger tournaments to start the year, then came through qualifying in Monte Carlo and upset both Denis Shapovalov and Flavio Cobolli. During this tournament, he’s now taken out four consecutive seeds (Nakashima, Auger-Aliassime, Cerundolo, Ruud), with the last three victories coming via straight sets. Alexander’s forehand has been his biggest weapon, though as Ruud described his young opponent after their quarterfinal, “he didn’t really have any weaknesses.”
Zverev is certainly the favorite in this first-time encounter, but in a fortnight that has featured plenty of upsets, don’t count Blockx out if he can remain aggressive during the biggest match of his young career.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
