The first day of the quarterfinal clashes at the Mutua Madrid Open brought us top-tier tennis and shattered the dreams of the home crowd. Spanish sensation Rafael Jodar put up a fierce fight against the World No. 1, but Jannik Sinner once again proved his incredible mental strength. In the second match of the evening, we watched a true tennis clinic and probably the cleanest serving performance of the entire tournament directed by the young Frenchman.
The first two semifinalists are known, and here is how they got there.
🇮🇹 Jannik Sinner vs 🇪🇸 Rafael Jodar: World No. 1 Survives the Pressure of Caja Magica (2-0)
Rafael Jodar’s fairytale is over, but the young Spaniard left the court with his head held high. Jannik Sinner (1) won 2-0 (6-2, 7-6) after nearly two hours (1:58) of an exhausting battle.
Although the result of the first set suggests an easy dominance by the Italian, the second set brought true drama. Carried by the frenetic support from the stands, Jodar played much more aggressively and started to pressure Sinner’s serve. However, that’s where the championship mentality of the world’s best player came to the fore. Sinner saved an incredible 7 out of 7 break points he faced!
When the match entered the second-set tie-break, uncertainty was expected, but Sinner simply shifted into a higher gear. He won the tie-break without dropping a single point (7-0), silencing the Madrid crowd and punching his ticket to the semifinals. Jodar can be proud of his tournament, recording 19 winners, but the key was the break point conversion (0/7).
🇫🇷 Arthur Fils vs 🇨🇿 Jiri Lehecka: Flawless Performance to Secure the Semifinals (2-0)
In the second quarterfinal, we watched a true demonstration of power by Arthur Fils (21). The Frenchman defeated Jiri Lehecka 2-0 (6-3, 6-4) in an incredible 1 hour and 14 minutes of play.
What makes this match special is the perfect statistics of the French tennis player. Fils played a “stress-free match” on his own serve – he didn’t allow Lehecka absolutely any break opportunities (0/0) during the entire match! He won an unbelievable 86% of points when landing his first serve (30/35).
On the other hand, Fils was maximally clinical when chances arose on the Czech’s serve. He had exactly two break points in the entire match and converted both (100% conversion). With only 10 unforced errors, Lehecka (who made 28 errors) simply had no answer to such a focused opponent.
For an analysis of all previous matches, the latest reports, and the schedule for the remaining two quarterfinal duels, visit our central report: 👉 ATP Madrid Hub: Live Results and Schedule.
