Sinner and Alcaraz Advance to Quarter-Finals at Monte-Carlo Masters

Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner ended his 37-set winning streak at Masters 1000 level but still managed to defeat Tomas Machac 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Monte-Carlo Masters. Sinner, who recently achieved the Sunshine Double without dropping a set, now aims to dethrone current world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz. Despite struggling with fatigue, Sinner expressed his happiness with the win, stating, "Not every day is the same. I was struggling a little bit, I was a bit tired... I tried to push myself through, which I have done." Sinner will face Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals, who progressed after Casper Ruud retired due to injury. Meanwhile, Alcaraz also dropped a set before securing a 6-1 4-6 6-3 win over Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry to continue his title defence. Alcaraz will play Alexander Bublik in the quarter-finals. Other notable matches saw 19-year-old Joao Fonseca ease past Matteo Berrettini 6-3 6-2, while Alexander Zverev defeated Zizou Bergs 6-2 7-5 to reach the tournament's last eight for the first time since 2022. In the Linz WTA 500 tournament, the second and third seeds, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Liudmila Samsonova, were knocked out by 18-year-old Lilli Tagger and 34-year-old Karolina Pliskova, respectively. Additionally, Holger Rune announced his return to action at next month's Hamburg Open after undergoing Achilles surgery in October.