The Caja Magica delivered ten days of tennis with wildly contrasting narratives. On the WTA side, the draw was blown wide open. On the ATP side, Jannik Sinner reminded everyone why he has been the most dominant force in the sport for over a year.
The defining statistic of the women's event is stark: not a single top-eight player survived beyond the fourth round. World number one Aryna Sabalenka fell to American qualifier Hailey Baptiste in the quarterfinals. Coco Gauff was eliminated in the round of sixteen by Linda Noskova. The chaos opened the door for a new generation.
Mirra Andreeva, nineteen, powered through the draw with impressive composure, saving three set points against Baptiste in the semis (6-4, 7-6). Marta Kostyuk, twenty-three, navigated her half with authority despite a wobble against Potapova (6-2, 1-6, 6-1). Their Saturday final pits Andreeva's raw power against Kostyuk's tactical nous. For both, it is a first WTA 1000 final.
The men's story belongs to one player. Sinner did not drop a set all tournament. The world number one dispatched every challenger with clinical efficiency, capping his run with a 6-2, 6-4 semifinal demolition of without facing a single break point. His Masters 1000 winning streak now stands at twenty-seven, a pace only Djokovic and Nadal have matched in recent history.
The breakout star was . The twenty-one-year-old Belgian stormed through the draw before falling to in the semis (2-6, 5-7). Fils confirmed his rise by reaching a Masters 1000 semifinal, a first for a Frenchman since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The shadow over this Madrid edition is the absence of , sidelined with a right wrist injury that will also rule him out of Rome and Roland-Garros. has also withdrawn from Roland-Garros. Two absences that reshape the clay-court season ahead.
Sunday's Sinner-Zverev final will bring the curtain down on a 2026 edition packed with drama.
