The world No. 1 dismantled Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 32 minutes at the Foro Italico on Thursday to reach the Rome semifinals, claiming his 32nd consecutive ATP Masters 1000 victory and surpassing Novak Djokovic’s previous record of 31 straight, set across the 2011 season.
The Italian also became just the second man in the Masters 1000 era to reach the semifinals at the opening five 1000-level events of a season, joining Rafael Nadal, who managed it in both 2010 and 2011.
The match. Sinner broke at the start of both sets and never let go. He converted four of five break points, struck 16 winners to 10 unforced errors, and won 73 percent of points on his first serve.
Rublev produced his best stretch of the afternoon after going down 4-1 in the second set, breaking back for 4-2 and forcing Sinner to a deuce service game at 5-3. The Italian briefly grabbed his left thigh in that game before closing out the match with a swinging volley, two unreturned serves and an ace on his first match point.
The streak. Sinner’s last defeat at this level came at the 2025 Shanghai Masters in October, when he retired against Tallon Griekspoor. He has not lost since.
The run, which began at the Paris Masters last November, now stretches across five Masters 1000 titles in succession — Paris, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid — with Rome the latest stop. Djokovic’s previous mark of 31 ran from Indian Wells to Cincinnati in 2011, one of the most celebrated streaks in the sport’s modern era.
What’s at stake. A title in Rome on Sunday would deliver the Career Golden Masters, making Sinner only the second man after Djokovic to win all nine Masters 1000 events since the series was formalised in 1990.
It would also make him the first Italian man to win the singles title in Rome since Adriano Panatta in 1976 — a 50-year wait for the home crowd at the Foro Italico.
Sinner, characteristically, refused to frame the afternoon as a coronation. “I don’t play for records. I play for my own story,” he said on court. “At the same time, it means a lot for me. But tomorrow is another day, a different opponent, different conditions.”
He next faces the winner of Thursday’s late quarterfinal between Daniil Medvedev and Spanish lucky loser Martín Landaluce, with the semifinal scheduled as a night match on Friday.
