Jannik Sinner, first opponent in Madrid will be a Frenchman
It will be a Frenchman who will be Jannik Sinner’s opponent in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid.
This is what has emerged from the main draw after the conclusion of qualifying. Competing for the spot will be the two transalpine qualifiers Benjamin Bonzi and Titouan Droguet, who have never faced each other so far on the major circuit.
Bonzi, currently on the fringes of the top 100 (number 104 in the rankings as of last Monday), is 29 years old, right-handed and uses the two-handed backhand. In previous matches against Sinner, he is 0-3 under, although the last confrontation dates back to 2023.
Droguet, on the other hand, occupies the number 113 position in the world rankings. The 24-year-old Frenchman, also a right-hander with a two-handed backhand, would face Sinner for the first time in his career in the event of a win over Bonzi.
The context in which Sinner approaches this second round is one of extraordinary form: the South Tyrolean comes to Madrid on the strength of 17 consecutive victories, the result of triumphs in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo. Just about the Madrid tournament, the world No. 1 wanted to warn everyone about his peculiarities: “It is a very different tournament than others on clay: the ball travels faster, you control less, there is less groundstroke. It’s a condition that favors those who serve very well and makes responding particularly tricky.”
Whoever between Bonzi and Droguet manages to get through the round will thus have to deal not only with the best Sinner of the moment, but also with a surface that the Italian is learning to exploit with increasing effectiveness.
