Paris, Nov 1 (IANS) Former World No.1 Jannik Sinner advanced to his maiden final at the Paris Masters, surging past a physically hampered Alexander Zverev 6-0, 6-1 in their semifinal clash here on Saturday. The Italian will meet Felix Auger-Aliassime in the summit clash after the Canadian stormed into the final with a fighting win.

The second-seeded Italian was ruthless from start to finish, hitting 23 winners to just 12 unforced errors as he improved to 5-4 in his ATP head-to-head series with Zverev, who won the title in Paris last year. Zverev saved two match points to overcome Daniil Medvedev on Friday night, but he struggled with his movement and looked out of breath at various points during his semifinal clash with Sinner.

With this win, Sinner extended his winning streak on indoor hard courts to 25 matches and moved just 100 points behind Alcaraz in the ATP Live Rankings and would reclaim the World No. 1 spot if he wins the title on Sunday.

Sinner set up a summit clash with ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, who defeated Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 7-6(3), 6-4 in the semifinal played on Centre Court in Paris.

The 24-year-old Italian is into his ninth ATP Masters 1000 final, and third of the season after falling short to Carlos Alcaraz in Rome and Cincinnati. He is level with Auger-Aliassime at 2-2 in their ATP head-to-head series, having won their two latest meetings in Cincinnati and the US Open this year.

“He plays incredible tennis at the moment, he has improved a lot,” Sinner said of Auger-Aliassime. “Especially in the past months, he has found his game again. I’m looking forward to it tomorrow, it’s a great occasion for both of us. I’m very happy for Felix, he is one of the nicest guys we have on Tour. It’s going to be a very difficult match.”

Sinner has reached the final in nine of the 11 tournaments in which he has competed in this year, including victories at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. It marks the second consecutive year he has reached nine finals, and he has now tied Alcaraz for the most Top-10 wins in 2025 (13).

–IANS

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