Jannik Sinner will play Carlos Alcaraz in a final for the fourth time this season after both players secured straight-sets wins in their Cincinnati Open semi-finals.
Defending champion Sinner, celebrating his 24th birthday, did not face a break point in a 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 win over Terence Atmane.
Alcaraz won 6-4 6-3 against an ailing Alexander Zverev, who struggled in the heat and humidity.
The Spaniard has come out on top in two of their three finals this season – in Rome and Roland Garros – while Sinner was victorious at Wimbledon in July.
Alcaraz edged a tight first set against Zverev, breaking the German’s serve just once and saving three break points.
Zverev began to struggle physically in the second and left the court for a medical timeout after three games.
When he returned the 28-year-old, who struggled with his breathing during his quarter-final win over Ben Shelton, was unable to properly move around court.
He was able to finish the match, but was very much going through the motions as Alcaraz won the final 12 points to seal the win.
“It’s never easy playing against someone that you know is not feeling 100%. It’s even tougher when it comes from Sascha, such a great player, such a great person off the court. We have a really good relationship,” said Alcaraz.
“We started well with good rallies, a good level. All of a sudden he felt bad and I was thinking more about how he was feeling instead of playing good tennis.
“It was tough and I just wish him all the best.”
On renewing his rivalry with Sinner, Alcaraz added: “We always bring our best tennis. We raise each other’s level. I’m ready to take the challenge.
“I will try and adjust my game better and correct what I did wrong in our last match. I want to be ready with my 100%. Mentally I’ll be ready – I’m excited for Monday.”
Atmane’s birthday gift for Sinner
Frenchman Atmane, 23, had come through qualifying to reach the main draw and defeated seeds Flavio Cobolli, Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune on his way to meeting four-time major champion Sinner.
As they waited to walk on court, world number 136 Atmane – an avid Pokemon fan – gifted Sinner a trading card from his own collection as a birthday present.
“I was talking to him a little bit in the locker room. He has one of the biggest collections of Pokemon cards, and I’m very lucky that I got one of his ones,” said Sinner.
“It was just a nice moment before a match, we didn’t know each other at all. So, it was a nice moment. The card was a kind of Pikachu. It said 30 damage to itself, so I don’t know if that is good or not.”
That is where the niceties ended, however, and Atmane impressed early on with his serving, including three successive aces in the seventh game.
But a double-fault from the Frenchman brought up the first-set tie-break which Sinner – who had dropped just one of 21 points on his first serve in the opener – dominated.
Sinner struggled at the start of the second set, requiring five game points to hold the opening game, but that was the closest look Atmane got of his serve as the Italian broke for a 3-1 lead and again to seal the match.
It was 200th tour-level victory on hard courts for the world number one and extended his winning streak on the surface to 26 matches.
The Italian is preparing to defend his title at the US Open later this month.
