Jannik Sinner, the next rival is the black beast of Carlos Alcaraz

Cameron Norrie will be Jannik Sinner’s next opponent in the round of 16 of the Madrid 2026 Masters 1000, scheduled for Tuesday, April 28, on the Caja Magica clay court. The Briton earned a pass to face the Italian by overcoming Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante with a score of 7-5 7-6, at the end of a balanced match, after having already struggled in the opener against Czech Tomas Machac, who was beaten in the third set.

For Norrie, a 30-year-old born in Johannesburg, this is a prestigious occasion: on the center named after Manolo Santana he will in fact face the world number one, Jannik Sinner, who is awaiting a test that is worth access to the quarters and the chance to lengthen the streak of consecutive victories in Masters 1000s to 25.

The Madrid match will be the first-ever meeting between the two on the major circuit, an unprecedented confrontation that adds further curiosity to a challenge on paper favorable to the Italian.

Sinner inevitably starts ahead in the predictions, on the strength of his recent triumph on clay in Monte Carlo and an excellent state of form, but Tuesday’s match will still require attention. Norrie, now No. 23 in the ATP rankings, knows high-level tennis well: in his career he has also reached the world top 10, touching the eighth position in September 2022.

The Briton has proven time and again that he can put even the big names on the circuit in trouble, mainly thanks to an unconventional and difficult to read game. It is no coincidence that he has managed to beat Carlos Alcaraz on three occasions in his career, always at the end of hard-fought challenges: in Cincinnati in 2022, in the Rio final in 2023, and on the fast indoor court in Paris in late 2025.