World No.1 Jannik Sinner bested Cameron Norrie at the Manolo Santana Stadium by 6-2, 7-5 to qualify for the Mutua Madrid Open quaterfinals. This was the first meeting on the tour between Sinner and Norrie and the former was able to bring his best to the court.

Sinner needed only 87 minutes to go past the Brit to advance to the next round. With his triumph, the 24-year-old Sinner earned his 20th consecutive tour-level win, while he is now on a 25-match winning streak at Masters 1000 level.

“Quite unusual for me,” Sinner said, when asked about any changes in his routine to prepare for the morning start. “I don’t know the last time I played at 11, but for me it doesn’t matter what time. I try to do my best… We try to adapt ourselves, our bodies and our minds. From my side, it was a good performance today.”

Sinner said he was aware of Norrie’s despite not playing against the Briton earlier.

“We know each other quite well. We practised a lot together in the past tournaments also, so we both kind of knew what to expect,” Sinner said on facing Norrie for the first time. “I felt like I was serving quite well today in the important moments.

“This surface, it’s very different to all the other surfaces, so it’s quite tough to get the right feedback. So sometimes you feel like you are not playing your best, but from the outside it seems that you are, and sometimes it is also the opposite. But I’m very happy to be here in the quarters again.”

Sinner will next take on either Rafael Jodar or Vit Kopriva in Madrid.