The Japan Times - Sinner crushes Zverev to reach Paris Masters final, brink of No. 1

The Italian raced to remarkable thrashing of reigning champion Zverev at La Defense Arena in just 61 minutes.

Sinner will replace rival Carlos Alcaraz at the top of the rankings with victory over Auger-Aliassime on Sunday.

Canada's Auger-Aliassime reached the second Masters 1000 final of his career by beating in-form Kazakh Alexander Bublik in the first semi-final.

Sinner and Auger-Aliassime have split their four previous meetings, although the world number two has won the past two including in this year's US Open semi-finals.

"It's always good to play him," Auger-Aliassime said of facing Sinner.

"I feel like he pushes players to be very, very disciplined tactically and to execute their game, you know, almost perfectly in order to win."

Four-time Grand Slam champion Sinner is now on a 25-match winning streak on indoor hard courts.

He 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.

Third seed Zverev made a dreadful start Saturday, with his forehand badly misfiring.

Sinner needed just 15 minutes to take a double-break and a 3-0 lead, sealed by a crushing cross-court winner.

Another wild forehand saw Zverev broken for a third successive service game, before Sinner wrapped up a bagel set with an ace.

It was the first time Zverev, who mustered just one winner in the opener, had lost a set to love since the 2023 French Open semi-finals against Casper Ruud.

The German showed some resilience in the first game of the second set, though, staving off a break point as he finally got on the board.

But the resistance was short-lived, as Sinner broke in the third game when Zverev ballooned another groundstroke long.

Zverev called for the trainer but his race had long been run.

Sinner completed the demolition when an ailing Zverev dumped another shot into the net.

- Auger-Aliassime downs Bublik -

Ninth seed Auger-Aliassime clinched a 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 victory as Bublik crumbled from 4-1 up in the second set of his maiden Masters 1000 semi-final.

"It's a pleasure. All finals of Masters 1000s are a dream, but (especially) in Paris, a tournament with so much history and important past champions," said Auger-Aliassime.

Auger-Aliassime climbs above Lorenzo Musetti into the eighth and last qualifying spot for the ATP Finals in Turin later this month.

The 25-year-old can seal his second appearance in the season-ending tournament with victory in Sunday's showpiece match.

Auger-Aliassime fell just short of a Masters title at the 2024 Madrid Open against Andrey Rublev.

Bublik, who made the French Open quarter-finals in Paris earlier this year, can no longer reach the Finals despite an excellent year in which he has won four ATP titles.

A tight first set flew by without a single break-point opportunity, before two weak forehands into the net from Bublik allowed a rock-solid Auger-Aliassime to win the tie-break.

The match burst into life early in the second when Bublik seized a 2-0 lead only to give the break straight back.

He reacted by smashing his racquet, repeatedly, against the court, earning himself a code violation.

Auger-Aliassime swept up some of the racquet remnants with a towel ahead of the next game, to the gratitude of his opponent.

The Canadian presented Bublik with another gift, firing a simple volley well wide as he slipped 3-1 behind.

World number 16 Bublik could not maintain his momentum.

Auger-Aliassime reeled off five successive games against an increasingly forlorn Bublik, taking his first match point with a thumping cross-court forehand.

T.Maeda--JT