PARIS — Jannik Sinner dismissed Ben Shelton 6-3, 6-3 to reach the Paris Masters semifinals for the first time Friday and move closer to regaining the world No. 1 ranking.
Sinner’s seventh straight win over the American also extended his indoor winning streak to 24 dating to November 2023.
If Sinner takes the Paris title, his first Masters trophy of the year, he will return to No. 1 on Monday.
He next faces defending champion Alexander Zverev, who saved two match points to overcome Daniil Medvedev 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) and end a five-match, two-year losing streak against him.
No. 3-ranked Zverev and No. 2 Sinner just met in the Vienna final last weekend when Sinner won 7-5 in the third. Their head-to-head is at 4-4.
Zverev saved both match points against Medvedev on serve at 4-5 in the deciding set. Medvedev, who beat Zverev in the 2020 Paris final, rallied in the tiebreaker to 5-5 but Zverev pulled away again to win after 2½ hours.
“Daniil is kind of my kryptonite, I don’t like playing him,” Zverev said in his on-court interview. “He’s somebody who has had my number for the last couple of years. I’m very pleased with the win for sure. Against Jannik, we had a fantastic match last Sunday. I’m happy to be on court with him again. Hopefully we share another great match.”
Felix Auger-Aliassime ended wild-card Valentin Vacherot’s impressive run in Paris by 6-2, 6-2 in their quarterfinal.
Vacherot had won his previous 10 Masters matches — including his first title in Shanghai this month — but Auger-Aliassime proved too strong for the Monegasque player as he advanced to his fourth Masters semifinal.
“He is so confident, and you are kind of scared to be honest,” Auger-Aliassime said. “You are not sure if he has got some magic right now that nobody else has. I had to be so focused from the start and this level of intensity … helped ease me into the match.”
Auger-Aliassime has reached 10 tour semifinals this season, second only to Carlos Alcaraz, and gone on to win titles in Adelaide, Montpellier and Brussels.
The Canadian will face Alexander Bublik after the Kazakh ousted sixth-seeded Alex de Minaur 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5 without dropping serve.
Bublik has won 30 of 37 matches since the French Open and four titles, and he’s the first Kazakh to reach a Masters semifinal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
