Sinner and Kostyuk enter Madrid Open final; Nishikori to retire at end of season

World number one Jannik Sinner downed Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4 on Friday to reach the Madrid Open final.

The Italian won his 22nd straight match to book a place in Sunday’s final, where he will aim to win a record fifth consecutive Masters 1000 title.

With his chief rival Carlos Alcaraz out injured, Sinner is firm favourite to triumph at the Caja Magica and add to recent titles at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo.

The 24-year-old will face second seed Alexander Zverev or promising Belgian Alexander Blockx in the final.

“I played at a very high level, but I focus on always raising my level a little. Especially when the tournament gets serious... You have to raise your level if you want to keep going,” Sinner told Movistar.

The Italian admitted he was feeling a little tired after playing so many matches of late.

“Obviously there’s a bit of fatigue -- mentally I feel good, but there is some physical tiredness, my body isn’t completely fresh, but that’s normal, and I think it’s a very positive thing for me, because it means I’m playing a lot of matches,” Sinner said.

“Of course on Sunday we’ll try to do even better, but whatever happens, I’ve reached another final in a very important tournament.”

Beating Sinner right now seems a near-impossible feat and the four-time Grand Slam winner started superbly against Barcelona Open winner Fils, who has impressed since returning from injury in February.

The Italian broke in third game when Fils went long to lead 2-1.

Sinner broke again in the fifth game with Fils, ranked 25th in the world, unable to cope with his sheer power.

The Frenchman has not yet reached a Masters 1000 final and with Sinner in sumptuous form it quickly became clear he would have to wait a little longer.

Sinner wrapped up the first set on his serve after Fils found some fighting spirit to prevent a third break.

The second set was far closer, with Fils rising in confidence and belief.

The 21-year-old saved two break points for a 3-2 lead, and put pressure on Sinner’s next serve, although the Italian produced two aces to hold.

Sinner broke with a down-the-line backhand winner to end an excellent rally for a 5-4 lead and served it out to triumph.

Marta Kostyuk is through to her first WTA 1000 final in Madrid after defeating Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 in second semi-final.

The No. 26 seed will now face No. 9 seed Mirra Andreeva on Saturday for what would be the biggest title of her career. Andreeva saw off a late challenge from Hailey Baptiste to prevail 6-4 7-6(8) in a battle of nerves on Thursday.

Kostyuk took the opener with two breaks, but the second set swung the other way as Potapova raced through it in under 30 minutes. Kostyuk then surged to a 4-0 lead in the decider before closing it out, helped by Potapova’s sixth double fault.

Kostyuk, who did not shake hands with her Russian-born opponent who now represents Austria, will aim to replicate her victory over Andreeva from their only previous meeting in Brisbane in January.

“Even in tough moments today, I really tried to enjoy this moment being in the semi-finals here,” Kostyuk said in her on-court interview. “And no matter how it would turn out, I really just -- in 20-30 years, I want to think about this moment and really smile about it.

Don’t remember the misery or being hard on myself, because at the end of the day, we all go out on court, and we do our absolute best always. And I did that today,” she added.

Meanwhile, Kei Nishikori will hang up his racquet at the end of the 2026 season, the 36-year-old said on Friday, bringing down the curtain on a professional career that saw him break new ground for Japanese tennis.

Nishikori became the first Japanese player to reach a Grand Slam singles final at the 2014 U.S. Open and was the second Asian man after Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan to make it into the top 10.

Agencies