Sinner equals Federer record with dominant Monte Carlo win

Jannik Sinner eased past Ugo Humbert in straight sets to start his Monte Carlo Masters campaign with a win.

Sinner, who is looking to reclaim the world number one ranking from Carlos Alcaraz, won 6-3, 6-0 over the former Paris Masters finalist on Court Rainier III.

Sinner hasn’t slowed down since completing the ‘Sunshine Double’ last month and has now extended his winning streak to 13 matches on the ATP Tour.

The Italian was in control throughout, winning 91 per cent of his first serve points against Humbert. Following Tuesday’s victory, Sinner moved into a club shared by just Roger Federer.

Jannik Sinner equals Roger Federer’s Masters 1000 milestone

According to OptaAce, Sinner is the first player since Federer in 2017 to start a season by winning his first 13 ATP-1000 matches.

The run started for Sinner back in Indian Wells, where he picked up wins over Joao Fonseca, Alexander Zverev, and Daniil Medvedev on his way to the title.

He followed that up by winning the Miami Open, becoming just the eighth man in history to complete the ‘Sunshine Double’.

Federer began that year with a fifth Australian Open title before carrying that momentum into the American hard court swing. He won Indian Wells by beating Nick Kyrgios and Stan Wawrinka en route.

In Miami, Federer capped off the double by defeating Rafael Nadal. However, he then skipped all three clay-court Masters events – Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome – before returning at the Canadian Open.

There, Federer reached another final but lost to Alexander Zverev. That stretch gave him 17 straight Masters 1000 wins across the season.

Jannik Sinner reacts to Ugo Humbert win in Monte Carlo

“I felt like it was a good performance today,” Sinner told Sky Sports after the match.

“From my side, we have to change a little bit the game style, how you approach certain situations. But I’m very happy.

“I feel like the first couple of matches, or the first tournament, is never easy. I didn’t have a lot of time to adapt, so very happy about today, happy that I have at least one more match here.

“I come here with good feelings, but at the same time, not many expectations. It’s a new tournament, so very happy.”

Sinner was then asked about transitioning from hard courts to clay.

“I feel like you need to adjust on every surface,” said Sinner.

“The most difficult part, I think, is when you slide. You still need to understand how much you slide. Because on clay you slide a little bit more than maybe before and sometimes I don’t have yet the right distance.”

Sinner added: “I’m happy because the best practice is always matches. So one more match in this tournament hopefully helps me too. And also mentally because after this tournament I will have some days off where we can focus really on doing different things and this also helps me.”

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