The Italian powered to a 6-3, 6-3 win over his fifth-seeded opponent this morning Hong Kong time and will next face Zverev, who saved two match points to beat Daniil Medvedev 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), in the semi-finals. Sinner has won his last three meetings with Zverev.
Sinner, looking to take advantage of rival Carlos Alcaraz’s shock second-round loss to Cameron Norrie, extended his winning streak to 24 successive matches on indoor hard courts and will knock the world number one off the top of the rankings by winning the title at the La Defense Arena.
“At the moment I’m not thinking about the ranking,” he said. “It all depends on how I’m playing. We go day by day, every day you have very difficult challenges coming up.”
Sinner has now won seven successive matches against the powerful Shelton since losing their first meeting in Shanghai in 2023 and is targeting his fifth title of the season after last weekend adding the Vienna Open trophy to his Australian Open, Wimbledon and China Open triumphs from earlier in the year.
The four-time Grand Slam champion wrapped up the first set in just 34 minutes, sealing it with a thumping baseline winner to break Shelton’s serve for the second time.
A 22nd consecutive win against American opponents appeared nothing more than a formality for Sinner when he moved 3-1 up in the second set. But Shelton immediately hit back with a break to love before levelling the set to gain a foothold in the match, much to the delight of a packed crowd.
The left-hander’s revival did not last long, however, as Sinner broke again in the eighth game. A deft winner at the net secured a place in his 13th Masters semi-final on his first match point.
Third seed Zverev kept his title defence on track after digging deep in a tense clash with former world number one Medvedev, who raced through the first set before losing his rhythm in the second as the German forced a decider.
The Russian moved to the brink of victory when leading 5-4 in the third as Zverev made a series of unforced errors on his forehand, but Medvedev passed up two opportunities to secure the win. Zverev took that momentum into the tie-break and ended a run of five successive defeats by Medvedev when his opponent fired long.
Earlier, Alexander Bublik battled back to defeat Alex de Minaur 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-5 and reach the first Masters 1000 semi-final of his career, where he will face Felix Auger-Aliassime, who saw off Valentin Vacherot in his quarter-final.
Bublik is still in the race to qualify for next month’s ATP Finals in Turin, competing for the eighth and last berth with Lorenzo Musetti and Auger-Aliassime, albeit is more likely to have a chance as an alternate. (AFP)
