Sinner reaches Italian Open semis

Jannik Sinner reached the semi-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday after seeing off Andrey Rublev and establishing a new record of consecutive wins in Masters 1000 tournaments.

Another straight-sets victory, this time 6-2, 6-4 over Rublev, moved Sinner up to 32 straight wins in the ATP’s top-ranked events, one more than the previous record established by Novak Djokovic in 2011.

“I don’t play for records, I play just for my own story,” said Sinner on court.

“At the same time, it means a lot to me, but tomorrow is another day, another opponent, a different opponent.

Rublev was Sinner’s first seeded opponent at this year’s tournament in Rome and the world number one made short work of his task in front of a delighted centre court.

On Friday Sinner is likely to face Daniil Medvedev, winner of the 2023 title at the Foro Italico, with the seventh seed taking on lucky loser Martin Landaluce in the first match of the evening session, which is scheduled to start at 1700GMT.

Sinner looks near unbeatable at the moment and with his great rival Carlos Alcaraz out injured he is heavy favourite to become the first Italian to win the Rome title in five decades, with a potential career Grand Slam on the cards at the French Open.

Rublev offered little resistance, the Russian dropping his own serve in the first game of both sets to give Sinner a handy leg-up, and committing 28 unforced errors in 18 games.

Sinner meanwhile showed flashes of his best tennis, with one beautiful cross-court drop shot helping him to break Rublev for the fourth time and take a 4-1 lead in the second set which gave his opponent too much to do.

“I felt like we both didn’t play at our best today, but at the same time, you know, the conditions here are very tough,” said Sinner of the changeable and windy weather in Rome.

“I tried to adapt myself in the best possible way, and obviously I’m happy.”

Iga Swiatek will bid to reach her first final of the year when she faces Elina Svitolina in the final match of the day on centre court.

A six-time Grand Slam champion, Swiatek has been out of sorts on clay since winning the last of her four French Open titles two years ago, but she has exploded back into her best form in Rome.

Since struggling through her second-round win against Caty McNally Swiatek has dropped just seven games in three matches and looks back to her best on her preferred surface.

Swiatek recently took on board Francisco Roig, the former coach of men’s clay-court icon Rafael Nadal, after a difficult opening few months of the season.

The 24-year-old got to the quarter-finals in Stuttgart in early April but was forced to retire from the Madrid Open in the third round due to a viral infection.

Swiatek could face current Roland Garros champion Coco Gauff, who takes on veteran Sorana Cirstea on centre court after Sinner, in the final should she get past Svitolina.