27/04 Madrid Open

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Ace Cream's daily newsletter during Masters 1000 and Grand Slams, every morning at 8:30.

Today is Monday, April 27, in Madrid it's 08:30 and there are 14 degrees. Ok, let's go.

On the menu today

• 🇮🇹 Sinner dispatches Moller and stretches his Masters 1000 streak to 24
• 🇮🇹 Musetti gets past Griekspoor in two sets, back into the Madrid round of 16
• 🇺🇸 Gauff beats Cirstea in three sets between illness and a comeback
• 🇪🇸 Jodar takes down Fonseca in three sets, eighth teenager in tournament history

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

🇮🇹 Sinner Dispatches Moller

Jannik Sinner beat Elmer Moller 6-2 6-3 in just over an hour, closing out the third round without conceding much of anything to the Danish qualifier. The Masters 1000 streak rises to 24 consecutive wins, the fourth-longest sequence since 1990, and his overall streak reaches 19. Moller, facing a top 10 player for the first time in his career, called for a medical timeout in the first set, but stayed on court working with his backhand until the end.

Compared to the labored match against Bonzi, here Jannik found the rhythms he was looking for: fewer errors off the backhand side, heavy first serves, rallies managed without raising his voice. In the round of 16 he'll meet Cameron Norrie, who beat Tirante 7-5 7-6(5): on paper a match where the world number one has a clear edge, but it's also the first round where the tournament starts to ask for something more.

🇮🇹 Musetti Past Griekspoor

Lorenzo Musetti beat Tallon Griekspoor 6-4 7-5 on Manolo Santana, in an hour and forty minutes, returning to the Madrid round of 16 after weeks in which his physical condition had suggested a more troubled path. A match handled with measure, no breaks of serve conceded, closed in two sets even when the second got complicated.

More than the result itself, what stands out is the sense of a tennis going back to leaning on its anchor points: the down-the-line backhand, depth on high balls, the occasional approach to the net to close the rally. On a surface that has seen him reach the semifinals in the past, it's the kind of win that starts to count for what it will open up in the days ahead.

🇺🇸 Gauff Wins Through Illness And Comeback

Coco Gauff beat Sorana Cirstea 4-6 7-5 6-1 after a match in which she had to deal with a stomach issue that made it difficult to stay on court in the first set. She is the second player of the week, after other cases in the draw, to have suffered a gastrointestinal disturbance during a match in Madrid.

Watching her in the first set it looked like a written exit, and instead from 3-5 in the second Coco changed the way she played: fewer long rallies, more aggression on Cirstea's backhand, a comeback that closed with a third set in which the Romanian no longer found answers. In the round of 16 she'll face Linda Noskova, and the feeling is that this match serves her more than the final score suggests.

🇪🇸 Jodar Takes Down Fonseca Too

Rafael Jodar beat Joao Fonseca 7-6(4) 4-6 6-1 in the night session on Manolo Santana, finishing nearly half past midnight. The nineteen-year-old Spaniard becomes the eighth teenager in Madrid history to reach the round of 16, and lines up his second top 30 win in a few days after De Minaur.

What's happening to Jodar at his home tournament starts to step outside the contours of the usual exploit: two wins over as many top 30 players, a Spanish crowd treating him as the possible heir in a week already missing Alcaraz, and a path that now takes him to the round of 16. Hard not to wonder at what point, in careers like these, the exposure starts to weigh as much as the tennis.

WHAT HAPPENS TODAY:

• Davidovich Fokina vs Ruud (ATP) - Opening Manolo Santana at 11:00. The Spaniard tries to keep his tournament going after the derby with Carreño, against the defending champion who has so far handled every match without spending energy.
• Sabalenka vs Osaka (WTA) - Not before 13:00 on Manolo. The world number one defends her title against the only player who, on paper, can ask this level of tennis the same questions she has gotten used to asking.
• Noskova vs Gauff (WTA) - Not before 16:00. Coco arrives off a draining match, Noskova is the kind of opponent who gives nothing away: the round of 16 that will tell us whether yesterday's comeback left a residue.
• Atmane vs Zverev (ATP) - Night session, not before 20:00. The German against a Frenchman looking for a breakthrough: a two-time champion here, Sascha keeps chasing the version of himself that won in 2018 and 2021.
• Bencic vs Baptiste (WTA) - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario at 11:00. The Swiss against the American coming off a win over Paolini, in a round of 16 that the draw has left more open than expected.
• Tsitsipas vs Merida (ATP) - On the Arantxa, after Bencic. Stefanos arrives off a clean win over Bublik, facing the Spanish qualifier living the most important opportunity of his young career.

Read more

• Jannik Sinner shakes off Elmer Moller to book Madrid R4 spot
• Musetti doesn't give Griekspoor a chance and advances to the Madrid Open round of 16
• Coco Gauff overcomes stomach bug to reach fourth round
• Rafael Jodar edges Joao Fonseca in Madrid blockbuster
• Jodar beats Fonseca to reach first Masters last 16 in front of his hometown crowd
• Monday, April 27th Order of Play at Mutua Madrid Open 2026

Have a good breakfast and a good day.

See you tomorrow at 08:30 with TIE-Breakfast