Jannik Sinner surges into Monte Carlo quarterfinals over Jan-Lennard Struff

Jannik Sinner continued to build his clay-court momentum at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, dispatching German rival Jan-Lennard Struff, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals.

Sinner has lost just one match all season and has made a seamless transition from hard courts to clay, backing up his opening round win with a 76-minute victory over Struff on Court Rainier III.

The 22-year-old is widely considered the best player on tour right now and remains in hot pursuit of Novak Djokovic’s No. 1 ranking; the two cannot face off in Monte Carlo unless both reach the final, which remains a live possibility with Djokovic avenging a 2023 defeat to Lorenzo Musetti to join Sinner in the quarterfinals.

Fresh off a second career Masters 1000 victory at the Miami Open, the reigning Australian Open champion dropped just three games against American Sebastian Korda to book a third-round clash with Struff, whom he beat last month at the BNP Paribas Open.

Unseeded at the Monte Carlo Country Club, the 33-year-old is in the midst of a career-best stretch, having peaked at No. 21 on the ATP rankings last spring after finishing runner-up at the Mutua Madrid Open final in May. Struff also reached the quarterfinals last year in Monte Carlo, backing up the run with wins over Sebastian Baez and Borna Coric this week.

Struff gave Sinner a solid challenge in the opening set, exchanging breaks as the Italian threatened to race out to an insurmountable lead, but Sinner was unmoved, breaking the German for a second time to serve out the set at his first opportunity.

The No. 2 seed carried that form into the second set, breaking serve in the third game and capitalizing on a 0-40 lead in the seventh to find himself serving for the match. Volleying his way to match point, Sinner clinched the victory with one last big serve.

Standing between him and the semifinals will be either No. 7 seed Holger Rune or No. 9 seed Grigor Dimitrov, both of whom had to play twice in one day after rain delayed their respective third-round matches against Sumit Nagal and Miomir Kecmanovic.

Also in the quarterfinals is two-time champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, who shook off losing a 5-0 lead in the second set to defeat Alexander Zverev, 7-5, 7-6 (3). Tsitsipas has struggled for consistency in the last 12 months due to various injuries, most notably a back injury that forced him to withdraw from the Nitto ATP Finals in the fall.

Seeded No. 12 at one of his best tournaments, the 25-year-old Greek held firm against the No. 5 seed when it mattered most, navigating a Sudden Death to book a meeting with No. 15 seed Karen Khachanov. Khachanov opened Thursday's action on Court Rainier III by planting No. 4 seed Daniil Medvedev, who went down in a blaze of frustration after a call seemingly went against him in the penultimate game.