Tennis star Jannik Sinner advanced to the semi-finals of the clay-court Masters tournament in Rome, breaking Novak Djokovic's record in the process. With a prize fund of €8,235,540, the Italian capital has become the stage for Sinner's remarkable performance.

The 24-year-old Italian, who is the defending finalist, eliminated Russian Andrey Rublev with a convincing 6-2, 6-4 victory in just over an hour. This win extended Sinner's consecutive match-wins at the Masters level to 32, surpassing the record previously held by Serbian Novak Djokovic.

Sinner started the match strongly, breaking Rublev in the opening game and again at 5-2 to close out the first set. In the second set, Rublev managed to break back early, narrowing the gap to 3-4. Despite facing more challenges in the second set, Sinner maintained his composure and secured the victory in two sets.

In the semi-finals, Sinner will face the winner of the match between seventh-seeded Daniil Medvedev and lucky loser Martin Lanzate (Spain). Lanzate is competing in a quarter-final of a tournament of this caliber for the second time this year, following his appearance in Miami.

Sinner is on a quest for his first triumph in Rome, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) in last year's final. A victory in Rome would make him only the second player after Djokovic to complete the set of all possible Masters tournaments.