The Japan Times - Alcaraz and Sinner battle for No.1 spot in Monte Carlo final

Alcaraz ended the fairytale run of local boy Valentin Vacherot in the last four on Saturday to stay on track to defend his title in the principality.

Alcaraz saw off Vacherot 6-4, 6-4 to reach his 10th ATP 1000 final and improve his record on clay to 26-1 since the start of last year.

It will be the first meeting this season between Alcaraz and Sinner and will decide who will be world No.1 come Monday when the new ATP rankings are released.

"I think it's the dream spot for everyone I would say. I'm fighting for a second Monte Carlo title, he's fighting for his first one," said Alcaraz of Sunday's final.

"It's going to be a really special one. The No.1 is on the line, which will make tomorrow even more special."

The 22-year-old Alcaraz is trying to keep hold of top spot and holds a 10-6 lead over Sinner in the head-to-head series.

"It's going to be 17 meetings against him, so I know him pretty well," said Alcaraz. "I know that I have to play my best tennis if I want to beat him.

"If I'm feeling (the) favourite or not, I would say against him there is no favourite in any match. It depends about who's playing the best that day."

Alcaraz broke Vacherot three times to wrap up victory in 84 minutes and is bidding for his third title of the season after winning the Australian Open and in Doha. He has made it to the final at his last seven clay tournaments.

- Sinner dispatches Zverev -

Sinner eased his way into the Monte Carlo final for the first time with a clinical 6-1, 6-4 semi-final win over Alexander Zverev earlier on Saturday.

The 24-year-old Italian becomes the first player to reach all three finals of the season's first three Masters 1000 events since Novak Djokovic in 2015.

Roger Federer, in 2006, and Rafael Nadal, 2011, are the only two other players to achieve the feat.

"I'm very happy," said Sinner.

"We came here trying to give myself some feedback (on clay) and now finding myself in the final means a lot to me."

Sinner said he had felt in top form right from the outset of the match against his German opponent, ranked third in the world.

"Obviously every match, every day is different, so I'm very happy about today's performance. I felt really solid from the beginning."

Sinner will play Alcaraz on clay for the first time since their epic French Open final last year, which the Spaniard won after saving three championship points.

"It would be good for me before Paris to play at least once against him (Alcaraz), seeing where my level is on this surface and where we need to work on," said Sinner.

As in Indian Wells and Miami, Sinner had the measure of Zverev who has not prevailed in their meetings since the round of 16 at the US Open in September 2023.

Extremely aggressive from the start, Sinner blew the German away in the opening set, breaking him three times and wrapping it up in 34 minutes.

In the second set, Zverev put up more resistance, finding his first serve again, but he still had to battle every time to hold.

He finally folded after 82 minutes on another blistering forehand from Sinner, who has lost only one set in his last 21 matches at Masters 1000 events.

K.Yoshida--JT