Jannik Sinner has a bigger game to hunt at the 2026 Monte-Carlo Masters than Felix Auger-Aliassime. Not that the Canadian isn't a good player, because he most definitely is. He just isn't of the same skill set as the Italian. Maybe only Carlos Alcaraz is.
But getting past Auger-Aliassime was just another step that Sinner needed to take to try to get back to No. 1 on the ATP tour. While the Italian was suspended last spring for three months due to two failed drug tests at the previous year's Indian Wells event, that meant he had no points to defend this year.
He is gobbling up free points at a quick pace after winning Indian Wells and following that up with a victory at the Miami Open, and he has closed the gap on Alcaraz atop the ATP quite fast. So fast that if Alcaraz loses his quarterfinal match in Monte-Carlo, Sinner would move to No. 1 in the live rankings.
Jannik Sinner defeats Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Monte-Carlo Masters
This was helped, of course, by Sinner's decisive victory over Auger-Aliassime. What is telling is that the Canadian wasn't playing poorly. He hit his serve with power, showed off a great forehand, and played at a level that was just good enough to get him soundly beaten by a better player. There was no shame in that.
What else could the Canadian do, for instance, than land nearly 70 percent of his first serves in the first set, and win 71 percent of those points? The issue was that Sinner is such a good returner that he punishes second serves and took 71 percent of those points from Auger-Aliassime. The Italian got the only break of the set to take it 6-3.
The second set was nearly a mirror-image of the first, except that Auger-Aliassime increased his form and landed more than 80 percent of his first serves. He would play a brilliant point by hitting at extreme angles, and do solidly defensively, but Jannik Sinner was simply better. The current ATP No. 2 just played better in the bigger points. He took set two 6-4.
Next up for Sinner will be Alexander Zverev in the Monte-Carlo Masters semifinals. Zverev defeated Joao Fonseca in three sets. Sinner leads the head-to-head 8-2, but the German once had a 4-1 advantage. The Italian has won the last seven meetings, dating back to the Cincinnati Masters in 2024.