Jannik Sinner was put through his paces in his opening-round match at the Madrid Open as he needed three sets to battle past qualifier Benjamin Bonzi on Thursday. 

Sinner, who is looking to win a record fifth consecutive Masters 1000 title, came from a set down on his way to a 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-4 victory in two hours and 20 minutes. 

An hour-long opening set saw Sinner squander multiple break opportunities to pull clear of his opponent, and Bonzi made sure he made the most of that reprieve. 

The Frenchman forced a tie-break against Sinner and was able to get the better of him, though the top seed quickly found his groove and began to show his quality.

Sinner was able to reel off five straight games in the second set to ensure the match would go the distance, though more missed break points came in the first game of the third. 

However, a timely break in the fifth game of the decider proved to be enough, with Sinner converting his first match point to tee up a clash with Danish qualifier Elmer Moller. 

Tuff W! @janniksin begins his quest for a record fifth consecutive Masters 1000 crown with a hard-fought comeback win over Bonzi. @MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/w0bqibfCzm

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 24, 2026

Elsewhere in the Spanish capital, there was no such trouble for Lorenzo Musetti, who emerged a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) victor over Hubert Hurkacz on court Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. 

But a top 10 seed did fall at the first hurdle, as recently crowned Munich Open champion Ben Shelton was beaten by Dino Prizmic, who won 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5). 

Since the event's inauguration in 2002, Prizmic (20 years 260 days) is now the second-youngest qualifier to claim an ATP top 10 win at the Madrid Open, older than only Dominic Thiem (20 years 243 days) in 2014.

Data Debrief: Sinner forced to dig deep

Since the format's introduction in 1990, Sinner (50%, 18–18) is now the only player to not hold a losing record after dropping the first set at ATP Masters 1000 events – minimum 10 completed matches.

However, he was forced to earn his win here. The Italian was only able to convert three of the 10 break points he created for himself, and he will need to improve that statistic if he is to prevail in Madrid. 

But Sinner was able to get himself over the line to record his 23rd consecutive ATP Masters 1000 match win. Since the format's introduction in 1990, only Novak Djokovic (31 and 30) and Roger Federer (29) have achieved longer winning streaks.