Jannik Sinner cruised into the Monte-Carlo Masters semifinals on Friday with a commanding 6-3, 6-4 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime. With the win, the Italian star secured an impressive milestone that places him alongside Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer as the only players to achieve the feat.
By taking down the Canadian, Sinner extended his winning streak to 20 consecutive matches at the ATP Masters 1000 level. He becomes just the fourth player in the history of the series (dating back to 1990) to reach that mark, joining the legendary “Big Three” of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal.
The World No. 2 will now face Alexander Zverev in the semifinals after the German dispatched rising star Joao Fonseca. Sinner remains focused on his first title in Monaco as he pursues another record held by Djokovic: becoming only the second player to win the Miami Open and Monte-Carlo Masters back-to-back.
Sinner finds rhythm after set streak ends
The five-time Grand Slam champion entered the quarterfinals boasting a dominant run of 18 consecutive Masters 1000 match wins without dropping a single set.
Jannik Sinner of Italy celebrates defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime. (Getty Images)
While his streak of 37 consecutive sets won finally ended in a second-set tiebreak against Tomas Machac in the previous round, Sinner noted that his performance against Auger-Aliassime was a significant step forward in form.
“I feel like it was a step forwards today,” Sinner said during his post-match interview. “It was a very tough match. I knew I had to get better in certain areas. The serve is not there yet, where I would love it [to be], but all things considered I’m very happy. Yesterday I was very tired. I recovered very well… Let’s see what’s coming tomorrow, but in any case, very happy to be back in the semis”.
When is Sinner playing vs Zverev?
With the semifinal bracket nearly set, Sinner is scheduled to face Zverev on Saturday, April 11. On the other side of the draw, Carlos Alcaraz advanced by defeating Alexander Bublik and awaits the winner of the match between local Valentin Vacherot and Alex de Minaur.
