Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev repeat Nadal and Federer’s rare ATP achievement

Alexander Zverev has followed Jannik Sinner into the Madrid Open quarter-finals, battling past Jakub Mensik on Tuesday night to secure his place in the last eight.

Zverev, ranked third in the world, overcame the former Miami Open champion 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 at the Caja Magica.

The German star and two-time Madrid winner will face 10th seed Flavio Cobolli next.

Earlier in the day, Italian top seed Jannik Sinner defeated Cameron Norrie in straight sets to reach the last eight.

With both top seeds advancing, they also set a milestone for the tournament. It’s been over a decade since this particular ATP record was last matched at this event.

Zverev and Sinner join rare company with consistent start to season

According to OptaAce, Zverev and Sinner are the first duo to reach the quarter-finals of each of the season’s opening four ATP Masters 1000 tournaments since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal back in 2011.

That year, both Federer and Nadal kicked off their campaigns at Indian Wells by making it through to the semi-finals.

Nadal booked his place in the final after seeing off Juan Martin del Potro, while Federer was stopped by Novak Djokovic, who went on to win the title.

Later that month in Miami, they crossed paths again in the semis. This time facing each other directly.

Nadal got the better of it, winning 6-3, 6-2 before losing a tight final against Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-7.

He responded quickly though, claiming a seventh straight Monte Carlo Masters title just a few weeks later. Federer’s run there ended earlier in the quarter-finals against Jurgen Melzer.

In Madrid a short time later, Nadal again reached another final after beating Federer along the way but came up short once more against Djokovic.

Their joint run finally came to an end at the Italian Open. Nadal made another final while Federer exited earlier than usual in round three to Richard Gasquet.

Alexander Zverev set for rematch with Flavio Cobolli in Madrid quarter-finals

The last time Alexander Zverev and Flavio Cobolli met on the ATP Tour, it was the Italian who came out on top.

Cobolli beat the world number three 6-3, 6-3 in the semi-finals of the Munich Open earlier this month, picking up his first win over Zverev after losing their previous two meetings.

After that match, Cobolli spoke to Tennis TV about whether he felt it was his best performance yet.

“Yeah for sure one of my best matches I’ve ever [played] against one of my biggest friends on Tour,” Cobolli said. “He inspires me and he’s a really good guy, his team have helped me a lot during the season.

“We have a good relationship also with the kids and with everyone on his team so it was also a little bit tough to play against him.

“I’m a little bit shy when I play with a big player. But today I think I played one of my best matches, and I’m really happy about my performance about how I managed the difficulties during the match and now I think I’m ready to fight again.”

The pair had already faced off twice before that – once at Roland Garros and again at Halle – with Zverev winning both times. Their quarter-final matchup at this year’s Madrid Open will be another chance for Zverev to respond after that loss in Munich.

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