Read & Watch: Sinner Shakes Off Flashy Machac

Jannik Sinner appeared headed for another routine win Thursday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters before a free-swinging Tomas Machac made the Italian work overtime for his victory.

Sinner saw his 37-set winning streak at ATP Masters 1000 level come to an end. But, more importantly, the Italian rebounded to extend his Masters 1000 match winning streak to 19 with a 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-3 victory to reach the quarter-finals, where he will meet Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.

“I was struggling a little bit, a bit tired,” Sinner said. “The most important thing today was to find a way to get through somehow. I hope that I can recover as much as I can for tomorrow. Every day can change a lot and you can play great tennis tomorrow.

“I just try to perform the best possible way and today was still a very positive day.”

After breezing through the first set, Sinner’s drop in intensity and Machac’s fearless ball striking from the backcourt and deft touch around the net saw the Czech seize the momentum. Despite squandering a double break at 5-2, more big hitting in the tie-break saw the World No. 53 force a decider.

Sinner, who will return to World No. 1 Monday if he wins the title, appeared to be in minor discomfort but he quickly reasserted his dominance with a love break and a love hold to take an early 3-1 lead.

Both players needed attention for health issues on the next changeover: Sinner appeared to tell the tournament doctor that he was suffering from dizziness; Machac received physio treatment on his left elbow.

Sinner has now won his past 53 matches against players ranked outside the Top 50. But he will want to clean up some areas of his game. He dropped just two points on first serve in his 6-3, 6-0 opening-round win over Ugo Humbert, but against Machac he won just 72 per cent of first-serve points and hit four double faults.

Earlier, on Court des Princes, Auger-Aliassime was leading Casper Ruud 7-5, 2-2 when the Norwegian retired.

Sinner leads Auger-Aliassime 4-2 in career meetings, but the Canadian did win their only clay-court meeting in Madrid in 2022, which was the first time they played.