Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz power into Monte-Carlo semi-finals

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz both enjoyed straightforward wins at the Monte-Carlo Masters to progress to the semi-finals, with a first meeting of the season between tennis’s dominant two players still on the cards. Sinner’s historic unbeaten run of 37 consecutive sets won at a Masters 1000 tournament came to an end in the fourth round in Monaco, when he dropped a set to Tomas Machac, but he was back on his usual form in the quarter-finals. The world No 2 swept aside Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-4 to book a last-four clash against Alexander Zverev , who overcame Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca in three sets.

Sinner has beaten Zverev in their last seven meetings, including twice already this year. “I feel like it was a step forwards today,” said Sinner, compared to his three-set win over Machac. “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. ” The Italian’s win over Auger-Aliassime means he has now won 20 consecutive matches at Masters tournaments - the level below grand slams - joining only Novak Djokovic , Roger Federer , and Rafael Nadal as men to reach that milestone.