Jannik Sinner sets up Zverev semifinal; Carlos Alcaraz storms into last four at Monte-Carlo Masters

Monte Carlo: Jannik Sinner is into the semi-finals at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters after a straight sets win over Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Italian downed Auger-Aliassime in a comfortable 6-3 6-4 victory to seal his place in the final four.

A 20th consecutive Masters 1000 victory for Sinner means he joins Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the only men to achieve the feat.

It also means Sinner’s bid of becoming world number one continues into the weekend where he will look to dethrone Carlos Alcaraz.

After the win Sinner admitted it was a big step forward today as he aims for his first Monte-Carlo title, “I feel like it was a step forwards today,” Sinner told the ATP website.

“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 in this night’s sleep. Let’s see what’s coming tomorrow, but in any case, very happy to be back in the semis.”

It means for the third consecutive Masters 1000 semi-final, Sinner will face Alexander Zverev as the German battled past Joao Fonseca in a near three hour battle.

A 7-5 6-7(3) 6-3 win for Zverev means he is into another semi-final in Monaco and has aims of reaching his first final.

Despite an ugly performance, Zverev didn’t care about that as it’s the results that matter this week, “It’s the first week on clay for all of us so it’s not going to be easy,” Zverev told the ATP website.

Meanwhile, it was a statement win from Carlos Alcaraz as he crushed eighth seed Alexander Bublik with the loss of three games.

The defending champion continues to look confident as he showed no signs of erratic tennis in this match and won 6-3 6-0.

After the match Alcaraz was happy to reach the final four in Monaco, “I started the match pretty well,” Alcaraz stated to the ATP website.

“I had points to be two breaks up and didn’t make it and then I lost a bit of the feeling on the ball. I had to run side to side a lot, had to defend and then a few games gave me a lot of confidence in the match. I was playing aggressively and I played a great and solid match against a player that you don’t know what they will produce next. I am happy to get through and to play another semi-final here.”

Alcaraz will face home favourite Valentin Vacherot or Alex De Minaur in the semi-finals. Agencies

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