admin 
Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz and his closest rival Jannik Sinner both cruised into the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters with straight-sets wins on Friday.
Sinner extended his winning run at Masters 1000 events to 20 matches as he brushed aside Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-4 in one hour 32 minutes.
Alcaraz was next on the centre court and extended his clay-court run of victories to 16 as he crushed Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-0 in one hour three minutes.
The top two had both suffered second-set blips the day before when Sinner, who said later his energy level was not right had his record streak of 36 consecutive sets won in Masters tournaments snapped by Tomas Machac in the last 16.
“I feel like it was a step forwards today,” said the Italian after beating Canadian Auger-Aliassime.
“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 (to be), but all things considered I’m very happy.
“But in any case, very happy to be back in the semis.”
Sinner has never won one of the elite clay tournaments but will be a strong favourite when he plays Alexander Zverev after winning their last seven meetings.
The world number two, who completed the ‘Sunshine double’ with wins at Indian Wells and the Miami Open, is still on track for a possible first clash of the year with Alcaraz in the final.
Sinner dropped just seven points on serve in a dominant opening set which he took courtesy of a break in the sixth game.
The four-time Grand Slam champion also powered through the second set, wrapping up his fifth consecutive win over seventh-ranked Auger-Aliassime.
Alcaraz, playing Bublik for the first time, broke in the opening game and had four break point in the third game but could not take any.
Bublik broke back in the fourth game and led 3-2, but Alcaraz won the next 10 games as he raced to victory.
“I started the match pretty well,” Alcaraz said.
“I had points to be two breaks up and didn’t make it and then I lost a bit of the feeling on the ball.
“I had to run side to side a lot, had to defend and then a few games gave me a lot of confidence in the match.”
World number three Zverev sealed a battling 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3 victory over Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca to reach the semi-finals in Monaco for the third time.
The German could complete a career sweep of the clay-court Masters 1000 events. He has won the Italian Open and Madrid Open twice each.
Big-hitting 19-year-old Fonseca was playing his first Masters quarter-final but pushed his opponent.
Zverev broke in the 11th game and then served out the opening set to love, before breaking again at the start of the second.
Fonseca reeled off four straight games from 3-1 down to tee up the chance to serve for the set, but he failed to take that opportunity.
The world number 40 found his rhythm in the tie-break with a string of magnificent groundstrokes to force a decider.
Meanwhile, a depleted Britain seized control of their Billie Jean King Cup qualifier against Australia on Friday with 17-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic stunning in-form Talia Gibson for the best win of her career.
Gibson beat three top-20 players at Indian Wells en route to the quarter-finals last month and was ranked 219 places higher than the teenager at 56.
But Stojsavljevic was in the zone on the hardcourts at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena, banging down 12 aces to win 7-6 (7/4), 7-5.
Her teammate Harriet Dart then battled past Kimberly Birrell 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to give last year’s semi-finalists Britain a 2-0 lead.
A doubles and two reverse singles, if required, follow on Saturday.
“It feels amazing. I can’t believe it, to be honest,” said Stojsavljevic, the 2024 US Open junior champion.
Agence France-Presse
