37 sets, 186 days, one tiebreak – Machac ends the record, Sinner takes the match
Jannik Sinner won against Tomas Machac 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-3 on Thursday. He’ll face Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No 6 seed, in the next round
Jannik Sinner, Monte-Carlo 2026 | © Chryslène Caillaud, PsNewz
For 186 days and 37 consecutive sets, nobody had taken a Masters 1000 set from Jannik Sinner. Tomas Machac ended that on Thursday afternoon in Monaco, and the Italian, who still won, admitted it showed.
Sinner, the No. 2 seed, beat the Czech 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-3 to reach the last eight of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, but the tiebreak that went with him was Sinner’s first dropped set at Masters 1000 level since Paris last October. The streak of 37 consecutive sets won, the longest in the history of the format – surpassing Novak Djokovic’s record of 24 set in 2016 – was over since Miami.
“It was a tough match,” Sinner said afterwards. “I was struggling a bit in the second set. I was a bit tired today. I hope I can recover for tomorrow.”
The match told the same story. Sinner was clinical in the first set, breaking early and winning it with little trouble. Then the second set unravelled in a way that has become almost foreign to him. He lost his serve at 2-2 and again at 2-4, Machac led 5-2, and though he could not serve it out – failing twice – the Czech was sharp enough in the tiebreak, winning it 7-3, to take the set.
Sinner’s serve, ordinarily one of the most reliable weapons in the game, was below its usual standard throughout. He recovered in the third, steadied, and closed out the match without further drama.
Sinner – Auger-Aliassime now
The streak dated back to last November at the Rolex Paris Masters, where Sinner clinched the title without dropping a set. It ran through the entirety of the Sunshine Double – both Indian Wells and Miami won without conceding a set – and into the clay season in Monaco. Djokovic’s previous record of 24, set across Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo in 2016, had stood for nearly a decade.
Machac, ranked No. 53, had arrived in Monaco in reasonable form. He had beaten Daniel Altmaier in three sets in the first round, then Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (2), 6-3 in the second. Neither result suggested he could extend the world No. 2 to three sets on clay, but he did, and was two points from the set on two occasions before Sinner served it out.
Sinner is now in the quarterfinal, where he faces Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No. 6 seed, who reached the last eight when Norwegian Casper Ruud, the No. 9 seed, retired at 7-5, 2-2 on Thursday. The Canadian, ranked No. 7, won the Bastide UTS Nîmes clay event at the start of the month and arrives in form.
Ahead of Monte-Carlo, Auger-Aliassime had said he hoped to reach the quarterfinals and test himself against the best players in the world – a wish that has now been granted, against the most in-form player in the game. For Sinner, the quarterfinal offers not just a title shot but a step closer to reclaiming No. 1 from Carlos Alcaraz, who is also still in the draw.
“I am happy to be in the quarterfinals,” Sinner said. “It will be tough against Felix next round.”
