In Madrid, Jannik Sinner calls for “scheduling adjustments” after rival Rafa Jodar’s near-1 a.m. finish
The 19-year-old Jodar was given a later match to ensure extra recovery time while Sinner was assigned a rare 11 a.m. start time on Tuesday.
Jannik Sinner spoke out against persistent scheduling issues in tennis after advancing at the Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday, the world No. 1 calling out potential quarterfinal opponent Rafael Jodar’s near-1 a.m. finish Monday morning against Joao Fonseca.
“I feel like we need to make some adjustments to the scheduling of the day,” Sinner said after winning a 25th straight Masters 1000 match, defeating No. 19 seed Cameron Norrie, 6-2, 7-5. “The matches end very late even though they have one day between. It’s still very, very late to finish at 1:30. You need to eat and have treatment, so that’s very late. We try to adapt ourselves, our bodies and minds.”
Tennis instituted new scheduling guidelines ahead of the 2025 season in an effort to reduce the number of matches finishing after midnight, including a new rule that prevents matches from starting after 11 p.m. without approval from the tours and the tournament supervisor. Jodar’s win over Fonseca, a fellow rising star, took just over two hours to complete.
To ensure Jodar had maximum recovery time, tournament organizers scheduled the 19-year-old’s fourth-round match against Vit Kopriva at 4 p.m., leading to a rare 11 a.m. assignment for Sinner, who is into his second career quarterfinal in Madrid.
“I don’t know the last time I played at 11, but for me, it doesn’t matter what time,” Sinner said during his on-court interview. “I try to do my best. There was a question whether me or Jodar plays at 4. I think it’s right that he plays at 4 because he finished very, very late.”
A home favorite, Jodar has been one of the biggest stories this week at the Caja Magica. After winning his first ATP title in Marrakech earlier this month, the teenager took a wild card into Madrid and stunned No. 5 seed Alex de Minaur in straight sets en route to a career-best Masters 1000 result.
“He's a very, very talented player,” Sinner said after his third-round win on Sunday.
“Jodar is a very, very clean hitter, very easy power. You can hear with the sound, you know, when he touches it, and it's a good sound coming from the racquet. He's very, very talented. He's going to be a great, great player in the future, and he's already showing. I like the mentality, it's quite calm. I don't know him personally, but he seems very humble. So, yeah, he's a very, very good player, and I wish him only the best.”
Sinner played some of his best tennis when it mattered most against Norrie on Tuesday, navigating a tricky second set—and weathering an underarm serve attempt from the Brit—to ultimately advance in straight sets.
“This surface is very, very different from all the other surfaces, so it’s tough to get the right feedback,” Sinner said on court today. “Sometimes, you feel like you’re not playing your best, but from the outside it seems that you are. Sometimes, it’s the opposite. But I’m very happy to be in the quarters again, at a tournament I haven’t played a lot. It means a lot to me and I’m happy to be through in two sets.”
Looking ahead to the last eight, Sinner, who is guaranteed to hold the No. 1 ranking through Roland Garros after the injury withdrawals of Carlos Alcaraz, would be facing Jodar for the first time. He owns a 1-0 head-to-head against Kopriva, having beaten him in the first round of the 2025 US Open last summer. Sinner is aiming to become the first man to win five consecutive Masters 1000 tournaments since the format was created in 1990.