German Alexander Zverev fended off a strong response from Brazilian Joao Fonseca, who took the quarterfinal match to a third set, and won 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-3 to advance to the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 semifinals against Italian Jannik Sinner.
The 28-year-old German, the third seed, became the fourth player in the tournament's history to reach ten clay-court Masters 1000 semifinals. He is behind only Rafael Nadal (37), Novak Djokovic (28), and Roger Federer (19).
Italian Jannik Sinner secured his 20th consecutive Masters 1000 victory by defeating Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime in Monte Carlo (6-3, 6-4) and reached the semifinals, where he will face German Alexander Zverev, who had previously overcome Brazilian Joao Fonseca.
The world No. 2 from San Candido, who could become the new ATP world No. 1 by winning the event, took one hour and 35 minutes for the match. He put aside the troubles he faced in the third round against Czech Tomas Machac, to whom he lost a set, and returned to being the solid, four-time Grand Slam champion who crushed Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the second set.
Without the ease he found against the Frenchman, the Italian regained his determination and defeated the Canadian Auger Aliassime for the fifth time in eight encounters. Auger Aliassime has reached the quarterfinals in nine of his Masters 1000 tournaments. But the Italian only needed one break in each set and a strong serve to secure the victory, extending his winning streak in this category to 20 matches, with 40 sets won and none lost, adding to his successes in Paris, Indian Wells, and Miami.
Sinner reached his 48th career semifinal, his 16th at a Masters 1000, and his fourth on clay. The match went to a decisive third set.
Zverev broke his opponent's serve at the start and built a 2-0 lead, which he held to secure the win. The German has the most Masters 1000 wins in the decade with 109 and has reached his 83rd career semifinal, his 27th at a Masters 1000.
The world No. 3, who had already reached this stage at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters 1000 events, became the second German to reach three Monte Carlo semifinals after Boris Becker. Now he awaits Zverev for a place in another final.
They had never faced the promising South American player before, and Zverev prevailed after two hours and forty minutes. Fonseca, who has only won six matches against a top-10 player (against Russian Andrey Rublev at last year's Australian Open), fell just short of one of the biggest wins of his career, but his comeback after losing the first set was incomplete.
The 19-year-old, who won in Buenos Aires and Basel last season, his only trophies to date, recovered after losing the first set and dominated the second set with his best tennis. Zverev responded, but the set went to a tiebreak, which Fonseca won after trailing 2-0 and then leading 5-3 on serve.
