Carlo

Jannik Sinner cruised past Felix Auger-Aliassime to set up a semi-final with Alexander Zverev in the Monte Carlo Masters.

The Italian second seed defeated his Canadian opponent 6-3 6-4 to extend his winning streak in Masters 1000 events to 20 matches – a run during which he has lifted titles at Paris, Indian Wells and Miami.

“I feel like it was a step forwards today,” said Sinner, who dropped a set at a Masters event for the first time in 186 days during his last-16 win against Tomas 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, but all things considered I’m very happy.

“But in any case, very happy to be back in the semis.”

Britain’s Cameron Norrie began his clay-court season on a winning note with a 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-0) victory over Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

After dominating the opening set, Norrie, who had not won a match at the tournament since 2019, struggled in the second. He dropped serve three times, including in his final two service games.

The decider proved tense, with the Briton broken by the world number 58 when serving for the match at 5-4 ahead.

But in the tie-break it was world number 24 Norrie – British number one again after leapfrogging Jack Draper in March – who raised his game to come through.

The 30-year-old will next face a rematch with Australian world number six Alex de Minaur, whom he defeated on his way to the quarter-finals in Indian Wells last month.