Sinner and Zverev set for a fifth act – the semifinal that keeps following them around
Jannik Sinner beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-4 on Friday afternoon and will play German Alexander Zverev, the No 3 seed, in the next round
Jannik Sinner, Monte-Carlo 2026 | © Chryslène Caillaud / PsNewz
Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev will meet in the semifinals of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Saturday – the fourth consecutive Masters 1000 semifinal between the pair, a sequence that has become one of the defining subplots of the men’s game.
They faced each other at the Paris Masters last October, at Indian Wells in March, at Miami two weeks ago, and now in Monaco. Only Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, who met in the semifinals of four consecutive Masters 1000 events in 2015, have produced a comparable run in the modern era.
Sinner has won all three recent meetings, and leads the head-to-head 8-4 overall having won eight consecutive matches against the German.
The timing of Friday’s performance made it particularly significant. On Thursday, Sinner had dropped a set to Tomas Machac – the first he had conceded at Masters 1000 level since Paris last October, ending a record streak of 37 consecutive sets won at that level. He had admitted tiredness after the match.
Tired, Sinner ? None of it showed
A day later, none of it showed. Against Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No. 6 seed and winner of the Bastide UTS Nîmes last week, Sinner won 6-3, 6-4 with statistics that told the story of a player back in full command: 79 per cent of points won on first serve, 71 per cent on the second, one break conceded – and saved – across the entire match, one break claimed in each set.
The win was his 20th consecutive at Masters 1000 level. Only Nadal (23), Federer (29) and Djokovic (31) have sustained a longer run at that stage. It also matched his best result at Monte-Carlo, where he has reached the semifinals twice before without going further.
Zverev had previoously defeated 18-year-old João Fonseca 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3 – a match that required three sets against a player who had beaten Matteo Berrettini, Arthur Rinderknech and Gabriel Diallo to reach this stage. Fonseca pushed Zverev hard, took the second set in a tiebreak, and confirmed throughout the week that he is not here merely to participate.
“Always a challenge”
For Zverev, after three consecutive straight-set losses to Sinner, the German still needs to find an answer to a problem that clay does not obviously solve. Sinner’s baseline endurance is even harder to overcome when the surface slows the ball, and his serve, already reliable on hard courts, was near-immaculate on Friday.
“It’s always a challenge,” Zverev said of facing Sinner earlier in the spring. “He’s been one of the two best players in the world the last two years. Of course it’s a challenge, but it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to.”
