Alexander Zverev joined Jannik Sinner in the Madrid Open quarter-finals after battling past Jakub Mensik on Tuesday evening.
Zverev, the world number three, defeated the former Miami Open champion 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 at the Caja Magica.
The German star, a two-time Madrid Open champion, will play 10th seed Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals.
Earlier in the day, Italian top seed Jannik Sinner defeated Cameron Norrie in straight sets to advance to the last eight in Madrid.
The tournament’s top two seeds have now made history at the event, becoming the first to achieve an ATP feat in 15 years.
Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev emulate Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer
As per statisticians OptaAce, Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner are the first pair to reach the quarter-finals at each of the first four ATP Masters 1000 events of the season since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in 2011.
That year, Nadal and Federer began their Masters 1000 journey in Indian Wells, where they both reached the semi-final stage.
What would have happened if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played at the same time as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?
Nadal advanced to the final after beating Juan Martin del Potro. Federer, meanwhile, was defeated by eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
Later that month, the pair again found themselves back in the semi-finals. However, on this occasion, Nadal and Federer were pitted against each other.
Nadal emerged victorious on that occasion, defeating his great rival 6-3, 6-2 in Florida.
The Spaniard went on to lose in the final to Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7.
Nadal bounced back in April, winning his seventh consecutive Monte Carlo Masters title. Federer was defeated in the quarter-finals by seventh seed Jurgen Melzer.
Nadal again made the final in Madrid a few weeks later after defeating Federer. However, he once again lost to Djokovic in the final.
Nadal and Federer’s quarter-final streak ended at the Italian Open. Nadal reached the final, but Federer was defeated in the third round by Richard Gasquet.
Alexander Zverev’s last match against Flavio Cobolli
The last time Zverev and Cobolli played an ATP Tour match, the Italian emerged victorious.
Earlier this month, Cobolli defeated Zverev 6-3, 6-3 in the Munich Open semi-finals, securing his first victory against the world number three.
During an interview with Tennis TV after their Munich clash, Cobolli was asked whether he had played his ‘best tennis.’
“Yeah for sure one of my best matches I’ve ever [played] against one of my biggest friends on Tour,” Cobolli said. “He inspires me and he’s a really good guy, his team have helped me a lot during the season.
“We have a good relationship also with the kids and with everyone on his team so it was also a little bit tough to play against him.
“I’m a little bit shy when I play with a big player. But today I think I played one of my best matches, and I’m really happy about my performance about how I managed the difficulties during the match and now I think I’m ready to fight again.”
Cobolli had lost to the German twice prior to their contest in Munich: at the 2025 French Open and 2025 Halle Open.
