Sinner dispatches Auger-Aliassime to enter Cincinnati semifinals

Cincinnati, Aug 15 (IANS) World No. 1 Jannik Sinner earned a a dominant 6-0, 6-2 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime to reach the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open.

Auger-Aliassime struggled to hang with Sinner in the opening set, committing 13 unforced errors. The 23rd seed did lead 2-0 at the start of the second but quickly faded. He struck eight double faults and could not find his rhythm from the baseline, with the 23-year-old too consistent to storm to victory, ATP reports.

With his triumph, Sinner extended his winning streak on hard courts to 25 matches. The Italian is just the fifth man this century to record 25 consecutive victories on the surface alongside Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal Andy Murray.

Sinner's last defeat on hard courts came against Carlos Alcaraz in the Beijing final in October, with the Italian winning titles at the ATP Finals and the Australian Open in the past year, according to ATP stats.

Playing his first tournament since winning his first Wimbledon crown, Sinner is 30-3 on the season. He will next play the French qualifier Terence Atmane, who upset another Top 10 star, Holger Rune, to extend his dream run at the Cincinnati Open.

One day after toppling Taylor Fritz, The lefty earned a 6-2, 6-3 victory Thursday evening to reach his maiden ATP Masters 1000 semi-final.

By reaching the last four, Atmane has earned USD 332,160 in prize money. He entered the tournament with USD 310,376 for the season.

--IANS

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