Jannik Sinner beat Cameron Norrie in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5, in the fourth round of the Madrid Open.
The British number one made some unforced errors early on and found himself in a hole right from the start. Norrie was always up against it from there, and Sinner wasn’t about to let him back into the match.
Sinner was sharp on serve, pushing forward with confidence, but he didn’t exactly run away with it. Norrie kept himself within reach for most of the second set until late when Sinner broke his resolve to close things out.
“It was quite unusual for me. I don’t know the last time I played at 11,” he said.
“For me, it doesn’t matter what time, I tried to do my best.
“It was a question if me or [Rafa] Jodar plays at 4, but I think it’s right that he plays at 4.
“He finished very late, and at the same time, I feel like we need to make some adjustments with scheduling out of the day.
“Two matches from 8pm are very late, even though you have one day in between. It’s very late.
“You finish at 1:30 and need to eat and have treatment. It’s very late.
Sinner feels changes are needed but didn’t let that impact his play on the day.
Naomi Broady raised questions about Sinner’s physical condition during Sky Sports’ post-match analysis, even though the world number two secured a straight-sets victory.
“I still don’t think he seemed 100% today,” said Broady.
“I thought it seemed he was moving quite slowly, especially in the first set.
“Yes, it was an early match time for him, and I can’t remember the last time he played at 11am.
“He did not seem quite at 100%, although Cam [Norrie] did.”
It’s now been 205 days since the world number one last lost a Masters 1000 match, with his most recent defeat coming against Tallon Griekspoor in Shanghai, where he retired.
No player in history has ever claimed five straight Masters 1000 titles, but Sinner is now just three wins away from doing exactly that.
But he won’t want to get ahead of himself. Next up is a quarter-final clash against either Rafael Jodar or Czechia’s Vit Kopriva.
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