MONTE CARLO, April 11 (Reuters) – Four-times Grand Slam champion Jannik Sinner dispatched German third seed Alexander Zverev 6-1 6-4 on Saturday to book his place in the Monte-Carlo Masters final.
Seeded second, the 24-year-old Italian will face either world number one Carlos Alcaraz or local hero Valentin Vacherot in his maiden championship match in the Principality.
Sinner, who clinched the Indian Wells Masters and Miami Open titles last month, became only the fourth player to reach the finals at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo in the same season, after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
“I’m very, very happy,” Sinner said. “We came here trying to give myself some feedback. Now finding myself in the final means a lot to me.
“Every match, every day is different. I’m very happy about today’s performance. I felt really solid from the beginning. When you’re a break up straight away, it changes the dynamic of the match. Let’s see what’s coming in the final.”
Meeting Zverev in a fourth consecutive Masters 1000 semi-final, Sinner produced a near-flawless opening set, racing to a double-break lead before sealing it with a backhand winner.
The second set proved a tighter affair. With the score level at 4-4, Sinner pulled away, breaking Zverev’s serve before closing it out 6-4.
Looking ahead to the final, Sinner acknowledged the challenge posed by both potential opponents.
“Carlos has a tough match now. Valentin continues to show what he’s capable of, especially here playing with the home crowd, even though Carlos is the favourite,” he said. “Assuming he wins, I’m looking forward to it.
“These are matches I practise for; why I wake up. It’s great to have at least one match before Roland Garros against him. That’s for sure a big test for me. At the same time, I have nothing to lose.”
With the victory, Sinner extended his head-to-head record against Zverev to nine wins and four losses.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
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