Backhand Warfare: How the 2026 Madrid Open Final Was Won in the Trenches
Jannik Sinner just beat Alexander Zverev in the finals of the Madrid Open, getting him one step closer to completing a career golden slam, a title only one player has achieved before. This match was historic itself, however, as it marked the fifth consecutive Masters 1000 win for him, a new ATP record. Despite these moments for the world champion, the Madrid Open went as fans expected it to go. The clay-court favorites did well, a few rising stars had small moments, and the highest-ranked players, Sinner and Zverev, fought in the finals, standard stuff for this era of tennis. Sinner and Zverev’s match, what should have been a gripping match, turned into a blowout in the quiet storm of the ATP tour’s favor. This is because the champion knew how to target one weakness of the high-risk, high-reward competitor.
There are three different surfaces that professional tennis tournaments take place on: clay, grass, and hard court. The Madrid Open is a Masters 1000 tournament that takes place on a clay court. Of the three surfaces, clay is known for slower play, high bounces, and favoring topspin, overall favoring defenders. These attributes of clay-court notoriously make backhands more difficult to execute than on other surfaces. The backhand is a shot that focuses on power over spin, relies on returning lower bounces, and often gets less accurate as play drags on. Compared to Zverev, Sinner is more comfortable on clay, and his backhand is more versatile, making him a nightmare to play against. In the first set alone, Sinner won nearly all six game points by targeting Zverev’s backhand. Whether it was Zverev missing the shot altogether due to the lower bounces or not having the power necessary to get the ball over due to topspin, Sinner played to Zverev’s weakness on claycourt, completely outclassing him and proving why he's ranked first in the world.
In the bigger picture, this could paint a grim look on the world of tennis. Sinner’s only contemporary is Carlos Alcaraz, who did not participate in the Madrid Open due to injury. Sinner and Alcaraz have many more ATP points in 2026 than Zverev and Novak Djokovic, the two players ranked third and fourth now. The gap between the upper echelon of players and the rest of the top ten is larger now than it has ever been in tennis. During the ‘Big Three’ era, there were still players like Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray who could pose a genuine threat to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Now, it looks like no one stands a chance against both Alcaraz and Sinner. Sometimes they lose to other players, but every time this happens, the other player crushes the competition, no sweat. This is the appeal of multiple stars in tennis: a Sinner-Zverev match may be a blowout, but a Sinner-Alcaraz match is a coin toss. Without proper competition, fans have expressed disinterest in watching many matches until Alcaraz returns from injury, which means there will be fewer eyes on the next few major tournaments.
