Alexander Zverev gives a vague impression as Jannik Sinner’s clash takes a turn

Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev will face off in their fourth consecutive Masters 1000 semi-final, this time in Monte Carlo. Moetsalibe defeated the German at the Paris Masters in November, and at Indian Wells and Miami last month, going on to win all three tournaments. Now, he hopes to do it again in Monaco, where he has yet to reach the final.

Sinner booked his place in the last four with a 6-3 6-4 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime, while third seed Zverev beat teenager Joao Fonseca 7-5 6-7(3) 6-3. Both men have now reached their third semi-final at the Monte Carlo Masters. Moetsalibe missed this time in 2023 and 2024, while Zverev hasn’t been here since 2022.

Although this is his best result at the Monte Carlo Country Club in four years, the world 3 cruelly admitted that he is still far from the best and was not very happy with his position against Fonseca. And that will give the Sinner more confidence when they meet on Saturday.

“Situation-wise, I’m not sure. I don’t think it was a great match, to be honest, from both of us,” Zverev said after beating Fonseca in their first meeting. But as I said, this is the first week of clay for all of us. It will not be easy, it will not be the best tennis.

“I won, it’s the semi-finals, I’m very happy. But I feel that the best set of tennis was the third set, for me, it shows improvement. The most important thing this week is to show improvement, to find my game more aggressive, because I’m fighting more on clay than I was on hard courts, I’m happy about that.”

Zverev was on the verge of losing the first match when he trailed Cristian Garin 0-4 and 2-5 in the final game of their match on Wednesday. But he bounced back to win the last five games, avoided an upset, and was happy to avoid an early exit.

The No. 1 seed 3 added: “It’s a bit about rhythm, I feel like I’m missing a few balls, but again, it’s the semi-finals, I’m really happy about that. [I’d rather] A few bad times and being semi than playing well and losing in the first round. Again, it’s about improvement. I feel like it’s going to be a good clay court season for me, but I still need to improve. ”

But Zverev will not be able to waste his shots against Sinner, who has not lost a match since February 19. Last month, he became the first man to complete the Sunshine Double – winning Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back – without dropping a set. That run included two wins for Zverev.

Sinner’s record streak of 37 straight sets won at the Masters 1000 level finally came to an end on Thursday when Tomas Machac took him to the decider. But the world 2 was back to his best against Auger-Aliassime a day later.

“It feels like a step forward today,” he said after winning his quarter-final match. I knew I had to improve in other areas. [it to be]but all things considered, I am very happy. Yesterday I was very tired, I recovered well from this sleep tonight.”

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