Jannik Sinner takes down Auger-Aliassime in Monte-Carlo, matches the ‘Big 3’ event | ATP Tour | Tennis

Game Report

Moetsalibe takes down Auger-Aliassime in Monte-Carlo, matches the ‘Big 3’

The Italian will next face Zverev, who rejects Fonseca for the SF spot

April 10, 2026

Jannik Sinner added another important ATP Masters 1000 milestone to his 2026 season on Friday afternoon by downing Felix Auger-Aliassime for a semi-final spot at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

The 2nd player in the PIF ATP Rankings won 6-3, 6-4 against Auger-Aliassime to set up a final meeting with Alexander Zverev. The Italian, who extended his streak of sets won at the Masters 1000s to a record 37 before dropping a set to Tomas Machac in the fourth round in Monaco, has now won 20 consecutive matches at the level: the ‘Big Three’ of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the only other players to reach the historic 9 in a single series.

Big 3 brilliance 😁@janniksin marks his 20th consecutive Masters 1000 win to join Djokovic, Federer and Nadal as the only players to reach that mark!@ROLEXMCMASTERS | #RolexMonteCarloMasters pic.twitter.com/GUOBlVLibo

– ATP Tour (@atptour) April 10, 2026

“I feel like it was a step forward today,” said Sinner, when asked how he felt about his win against Machac. “It was a very difficult game. I knew I had to improve in some areas. [to be]but all things considered I am very happy. Yesterday I was very tired. I recovered very well from this sleep tonight. Let’s see what tomorrow brings, but anyway, I’m very happy to be back in the semis.”

Moetsalibe looked for every break to complete a 92-minute victory against Auger-Aliassime at Court Rainier III, where the Italian gave a relentless display of groundstrokes. Now in his third Monte-Carlo semi-final, the 24-year-old will take on third seed Zverev on Saturday for a place in the championship match after the German defeated #NextGenATP forward Joao Fonseca 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3.

Another moment that perhaps shows the nature of Sinner’s character was the title he produced to claim his crucial break for 5-3 in the second set. The 26-year-old tourist’s list is very effective with a high ball from Auger-Aliassime that the technology of tracking the ball later showed to be going down for a long time.

“I feel like you start with the intention of hitting, I don’t doubt it,” said Sinner. “I just miss taking it. It’s a game we’re trying to improve. We’re working on it a lot, even though from the outside it always looks like an easy shot, a waste. It’s not.

“Today, because of the weather and the clouds, I feel more confident to hit the serve. For example, when the sky is blue, I am a person who struggles more, but I am happy that I was able to.”

Despite doubts about his serve performance, Sinner still won 79 percent (26/33) of points on the back of his first serve against sixth seed Auger-Aliassime, according to Infosys ATP Stats. He has now won his last five matches against the Canadian and leads 5-2 in the Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Zverev earlier outplayed 19-year-old Fonseca in a first-round match. The 28-year-old German produced a strong third-set display to reach his third consecutive Masters 1000 semi-final after reaching the stage in Indian Wells and Miami last month.

“It’s the first week on clay for all of us, so it won’t be easy,” said Zverev after his two-hour and 41-minute victory. “It won’t be the best tennis. I won and I’m in the semi-finals, and I’m very happy with that. I feel like the best set of tennis was the third set for me, so it shows improvement.

“That’s the most important thing this week, to show improvement and improve my aggressive game, because I’m struggling on clay more than I was on hard courts because of it.