Jannik Sinner has become the youngest man to reach the final of all nine Masters 1000 tournaments after swatting aside Arthur Fils at the Madrid Open.
The world No.1 follows Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in completing the set and, at 24, has done so at a younger age than his illustrious predecessors – taking a year off Djokovic's previous record.
Sinner has been open about finding the conditions at the Caja Magica difficult but he has dropped just one set this fortnight and was mightily impressive against one of the tour's most in-form players in Frenchman Fils.
The top seed did not face a break point throughout his 6-2 6-4 victory and is now only one victory away from becoming the first man to win five successive Masters titles.
Chasing his second clay-court title of the season, the Italian controlled the baseline exchanges and mixed in deft drop shots to hand Fils his first defeat on the surface this year.
The Frenchman offered more resistance in the second set, varying his play to stay in touch, but Sinner secured the decisive break before closing out the match in 85 minutes.
"Obviously very, very happy," said Sinner. "One more final here, it's an amazing result.
"For me, the most important was trying to raise my level today, which I've done, especially first set – very, very aggressive and I'm changing direction very well. I'm very happy to close it out in two and it means a lot to me, of course."
Sinner has not been beaten since a surprise loss to Jakub Mensik in Doha in February, winning titles in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo, with his unbeaten streak now at 22 matches.
In Sunday's final Sinner, who could claim a record fifth successive ATP Masters 1000 title, will meet the winner of the second semi-final between the two-time Madrid champion Alexander Zverev or Alexander Blockx.
with Reuters