Defending champion Sinner storms into Cincinnati Open semi-finals

Defending champion Jannik Sinner swept past Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-0 6-2 on Thursday to reach the Cincinnati Open semi-finals, with the world number one extending his hardcourt winning streak to 25 matches.

Sinner delivered a dominant performance, capitalising on his opponent's 29 unforced errors to claim his first win in three meetings against the Canadian 23rd seed in just 71 minutes.

"Today I felt great on court. I think you saw that but every day is going to be different," Sinner said. "Tomorrow is a day off, which is good for me. We will try and put some reps in and then see what I can do in the semis."

The 23-year-old Italian became only the fifth man this century to record 25 consecutive victories on the surface alongside Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray.

He will next face French qualifier Terence Atmane, who continued his impressive run by upsetting Danish seventh seed Holger Rune 6-2 6-3.

"I don't think any words can describe how I feel right now," Atmane, 23, said. "It's pretty insane to be honest. I cannot believe it.

"Being here in the semi-finals of a Masters 1000, breaking into the Top 100 and even more with the win tonight — it's also a lot of money for me, so it's going to be very helpful for my career. It means a lot to me. I'm very emotional about it."

Canadian Open champion Ben Shelton advanced to the quarter-finals after beating Czech 22nd seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4 6-4.

"I'm hungry. I'm in a good rhythm," Shelton said. "I'm playing good tennis and my body feels good.

"I think the confidence along with not being satisfied, wanting to prove myself over and over every time that I'm out on the court, and having things that I want to get better at is a huge motivation for me and it pushes me every match."

Next up for the American fifth seed is German third seed Alexander Zverev.

In the women's draw, American second seed Coco Gauff secured her place in the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-4 win over Italy's Lucia Bronzetti.

"For the most part I played aggressive. Maybe got a bit passive in some of those games. But it's tough. The balls are super light and they fly," Gauff said.

"She wasn't giving me much pace. I was trying to play with control but also aggressive. I think I did well. I missed a couple of balls. But I learned from it and was able to close it out."

The twice Grand Slam champion will next face another Italian, seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, who knocked out Barbora Krejcikova 6-1 6-2 in a rematch of the 2024 Wimbledon final, which the Czech won.