Jannik Sinner crushed Alexander Bublik in just one hour and 50 minutes to reach the French Open semi-finals, where he will face either Alexander Zverev or Novak Djokovic.
The three-time grand slam champion is bidding for a first title at Roland-Garros, and he entered Wednesday's last-eight contest without dropping a set at the tournament.
Bublik was riding the high of Monday's fine victory over fifth seed Jack Draper, but his momentum was killed early on by the world number one, who debuted a new stance when receiving as he managed back-to-back breaks straight away.
Sinner was a point away from a first-set bagel but a couple of uncharacteristic miscues got Bublik on the board, though Sinner wrapped up the opener in the very next game.
Bublik showed more fight in the second set, which went on serve for 10 games until the six-foot-five Kazakhstani double-faulted to go 6-5 down, and a love service game put Sinner two sets to the good.
The third set was more like the first as Sinner went through the gears, controlling proceedings from the baseline and finishing rallies ruthlessly as he cruised to the bagel in 26 minutes.
Data Debrief: Sinner's run continues
Sinner's victory was his 19th in a row at grand slams, a run that stretches back to his quarter-final defeat to Daniil Medvedev at Wimbledon last July.
The 23-year-old is the youngest player to enjoy a winning streak that long at the majors since Rafael Nadal in 2008 (19 in a row between Roland-Garros and the US Open).
Sinner is also the third-youngest player in the Open Era to reach the semi-finals of both the Australian Open and Roland-Garros in consecutive years, older only than Jim Courier and Mats Wilander.Â
The Italian lost to Carlos Alcaraz on his only previous semi-final appearance at the French Open in 2024 and will be looking to go at least one step further this year.Â
