Jannik Sinner notches eighth straight win in Zverev series, reaches first Monte Carlo final

Coming into Saturday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, Alexander Zverev took the court to contest his fourth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 semifinal.

The only problem was Jannik Sinner was doing the same and in all four occasions, has now halted the German’s bid to go any further with straight-set victories.

The world No. 2 notched his eighth successive win over Zverev in a commanding 6-1, 6-4 performance that upped his overall win streak to 16. He has now reached the final at eight different Masters 1000 events, a feat only each member of the Big Four accomplished before him since the series was introduced in 1990.

Sinner broke to start the clash when Zverev yanked his serve +1 crosscourt backhand wide. A second break was quickly scooped up when the Italian punished a sitting mid court ball with an unreturnable forehand winner, and a third wrapped up the one-sided set following a devastating backhand up the line off Sinner’s racquet.

Zverev held from 30 in his opening four service games of set two to stay with his opponent, but was never able to create any looks on return to swing the momentum in his favor. With Zverev serving to stay in the encounter, Sinner put on a brilliant defensive display to bring up match point—and finished with one final forehand winner to end his day with a 9.6 performance rating per the Infosys ATP Stats tracking.

“We came here trying to give myself some feedback. Now finding myself in the final means a lot to me,” Sinner told ATP Media. “I’m very happy with this performance. I felt really solid from the beginning. When you’re a break up from the beginning, it changes the dynamic of the match.”

The 24-year-old is aiming to celebrate his first clay-court triumph since 2022 Umag after getting through to his second 1000-level final on the surface (2025 Rome). He is the first player since Novak Djokovic 11 years ago to appear in the season’s first three Masters 1000 finals, having completed his maiden Sunshine Double in March at Indian Wells and Miami.

With the win, Sinner has put the pressure on defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the battle for the No. 1 ranking. Should the Spaniard advance past home favorite Valentin Vacherot, Sunday will serve up a winner-take-all final. If Vacherot pulls off the upset, Sinner will reclaim the top spot on Monday’s rankings.