By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, August 14, 2025Photo credit: Cincinnati Open Facebook
Background noise was a brief distraction for Jannik Sinner in the opening game.
The world No. 1 pressed a powerful mute button on Felix Auger-Aliassime the rest of the match.
A dominant Sinner played demolition man, destroying Auger-Aliassime 6-0, 6-2 to roll to his 11th consecutive victory and second straight Cincinnati Open semifinal.
World No. 1 Sinner streaked through the first six games and the final six games overwhelming Auger-Aliassume on the strength of six service breaks.
“I’m happy for today’s match,” Sinner told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj. “I raised my level, which I was aiming for. So I’m happy about that and now let’s see what’s coming in the semis.”
Empowered by his run to the Wimbledon title last month, Sinner stomped one-time nemesis Auger-Aliassime stretching his hard-court winning streak to 25 matches.
Sinner is the fifth different man this century to score 25 straight hard-court victories joining Big 4 legends Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray achieving that feat. Sinner is now 64-3 on hard courts since the start of the 2024 season when he won his maiden AO championship.
Hard-Court Specialist! 👏@janniksin becomes only the fifth male player to record 25 straight wins on hard courts this century 😳#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/Lt4ILUsZ8u
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 14, 2025
Continuing his quest for a second straight Cincinnati championship, Sinner will play either seventh-seeded Holger Rune or French qualifier Terence Atmane, for a spot in the final.
Though Auger-Aliassime had beaten Sinner in both of their prior meetings, including a 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-1 triumph in the 2022 Cincinnati round of 16, this is clearly a different and more dynamic Sinner.
The top seed not only disarmed a dangerous Auger-Aliassime, he basically beat the self-belief out of the Canadian. Of course, Auger-Aliassime betrayed his own cause coughing up eight double faults against no aces and winning a meager 4 of 20 second-serve points. That said, you have to credit Sinner for shredding the Canadian from the baseline and spooking him with booming returns that left Auger-Aliassime sometimes overhitting his second serve.
Roping a return right through the middle of the court that handcuffed his opponent and rattled the error, Sinner broke for 2-0 then stamped a love hold for 3-0.
A crackling crosscourt forehand capped a strong Sinner hold at 15 for a 5-0 lead after 22 minutes of play.
Matters went from bad to horrific for Auger-Aliassime, who spit up three double faults in the sixth game.
Auger-Aliassime’s second straight double fault—and fifth of the set—helped Sinner serve up the bagel in just 27 minutes.
“I wish I could start every match like this,” Sinner said. “I’m aiming for that. I feel like in important matches, especially in later stages of tournaments, a player may feel more comfortable. Because the first couple of matches, they’re difficult, you come here you don’t know what to expect.
“But then you know how the situation is on the court. I played already three matches, which I know how the situation is gonna be. But yeah, you know, I’m aiming for that. I cannot do that every match. It would be also tough to see, but in the same time I’m happy how I handled today.”
The top seed won 25 of 35 points played in the set and collected 12 of 15 points on serve.
After absorbing that bruising beatdown, Auger-Aliassime broke to start the second set. The former world No. 6 staved off a break point then buried a big serve down the middle holding for 2-0 with a loud “Allez!”
That was the beginning of the end for Auger-Aliassime.
Sinner stormed through 11 points in a row staggering the Canadian with deep drives to edge ahead 3-2.
A rattled Auger-Aliassime framed a wayward forehand then double-faulted into the tape as Sinner broke for 4-2.
An ignominious afternoon for Auger-Aliassime came to an end after one hour, 11 minutes when he double faulted for the eighth time.
If you’re ranked outside the Top 20 and your name is not Alexander Bublik then facing Sinner has been a fight as futile as arm-wrestling King Kong during the last two years. Sinner is now 74-1 against non Top 20 opponents since the 2023 US Open.
