Just moments after he sealed his Madrid Open semifinal win over Arthur Fils, Jannik Sinner moved close to the camera lens and scribbled ‘Finale’. For the world No. 1 who started this season dominating the charts and demolishing his opponents, the joy wasn’t just about reaching another final.

It came with much more – an opportunity to write his name ahead of the Big Three who wrote the history of tennis. But the road was anything but easy for him in the tricky Madrid conditions.

With a dominant 6-2, 6-4 win over Fils, Sinner is now the fourth person to make every final of the Masters event on the tour. The three players preceding him are Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal. But adding to that fact is when he did it.

The 24-year-old is the youngest-ever to achieve this feat after replacing Djokovic from the stand, who did it at 25-years-old. Nadal and Federer did it at 27- and 30-years-old, respectively.

Still, this was anything but an easy win for the World No. 1.

Madrid tested players with swirling winds and the tricky altitude, conditions that can make even the simplest shots feel unpredictable. The Italian took some time to settle in, but once he found his rhythm in the opening set, he began to take control. The second set, though, turned into a much tougher battle, with Arthur Fils pushing him all the way.

“I tried to be best aggressive,” Sinner said after the match. “I felt very comfortable in the return. Second set he started to serve better so it was more difficult. Very happy about the general performance today. Today was a very good day in the office. But I knew it before the match, he’s one of the best players in the world at the moment.

“I tried to adapt myself in the best possible way.”

Sinner’s run on Friday was anything but modest, unlike his response after the win, as he showed why he is world No. 1 even when playing on a clay court.

Sinner dismantled his top-20 opponent for a special cause

The Italian’s semifinal match was another heavy-hitting obstacle in Fils. With his trademark authority, Sinner continued his momentum from the clinical quarter final. The No. 1 player stretched the Frenchman corner to corner with unerring accuracy, firing 17 winners to Fils’ 10 in a dominant display.

Fils was on a nine-match winning streak, highlighted by his ATP 500 triumph in Barcelona. However, he could not withstand Sinner’s pressure. He dropped just three of 24 first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats. He also did not face a break point throughout the match. Yet, Sinner remained respectful towards his opponent.

“I knew it before the match: He is one of the best players in the world at the moment,” Sinner said of Fils, who is fourth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. “I’m very happy that I played against him. He is very good for tennis, for the sport.”

It is his fifth consecutive Masters 1000 final. He will face two-time Madrid winner Alexander Zverev in the finals. If Sinner manages to seal the victory in Madrid, he will become the first player in the history of the sport to achieve this feat: Five Masters titles in a row (Paris, Indian Wells, Miami Open, Monte-Carlo, and Madrid).