CINCINNATI  -  Top seed and defending champion Jannik Sinner, playing on his 24th birthday, ended French qualifier Terence Atmane’s dream run at the Cincinnati Open with a 7-6(4) 6-2 win on Saturday to reach the final of the U.S. Open tune-up event.

In the other semi-final, Carlos Alcaraz advanced with a 6-4 6-3 win over German third seed Alexander Zverev, who struggled physically during the match, to set up a rematch of this year’s French Open and Wimbledon finals. Sinner won a remarkable 91% of his first-serve points, did not face a single break point during the 86-minute match and converted two of five break points in his first career meeting with world number 136 Atmane.

The Italian world number one had his hands full throughout a tightly contested first set which featured an imperious serving display from both men and not a single break point opportunity for either player.Sinner, who lost just three points on serve in the opening set, held to love for a third consecutive game to force the tiebreak where Atmane gifted his opponent the opening point with a double fault. From there the Italian never looked back. He opened the second set with a nine-minute hold of serve, then held to love before finally breaking for a 3-1 lead that gave him the cushion he needed.Sinner followed that with another hold to love to go 4-1 up and all but end any hope for Atmane. With Atmane serving to stay in the match, Sinner quickly jumped ahead 0-40 before sealing the win on his third match point when the Frenchman sent a forehand into the net. The Alcaraz-Zverev encounter was interrupted for 11 minutes early in the first set while paramedics tended to a spectator as the two players stood and watched together from the net. Shortly after play resumed, Alcaraz saved three consecutive break points to reach 2-2. Three games later the Spaniard sent a brilliant low backhand volley to the open court for a break and 4-3 lead before closing out the frame on his serve.

Alcaraz broke to open the second set but gave it right back in a game during which he gifted four double-faults to Zverev, who did well to finish the match but was barely going through the motions in the latter stages as Alcaraz had a love hold to go 5-3 up and then sealed the match with a break at love.