Imperial. World No.1 Jannik Sinner followed up his third victory (6-3, 6-4) in as many group matches at the ATP Masters Series on Thursday against No. 4 Daniil Medvedev of Russia, a success which also enabled American Taylor Fritz to reach the semi-finals.

Already assured of a place in the last four of the “Masters Tournament” since Thursday afternoon, 23-year-old Sinner finished top of his group with a record of three wins, six sets won and none lost. Medvedev needed to beat Sinner in two sets to overtake Fritz, who had earlier beaten Australian Alex De Minaur 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

But against Sinner, who had won seven of their last eight encounters, the Russian was only able to hold out for 15 minutes. Multiplying unforced errors (17 in the first set to four winners), he lost his serve in the seventh game and never recovered. In the second set, the Italian quickly took his opponent’s serve to lead 3-1, an advantage he soon lost. At 4-4, Sinner made the difference again, this time for good.

In Saturday’s semi-finals, the tall redhead, unfortunate finalist at the 2023 ATP Masters, will face the 2nd seed in the “John Newcombe” group, the outcome of which will be decided on Friday. Fritz will face the winner of this group.

Germany’s Alexander Zverev is in a strong position with two wins from two matches, before facing Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz (one win, one loss). Norway’s Casper Ruud also won a match against Russia’s Andrey Rublev (two defeats).