(Photo credit: Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Top-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy shook off an early challenge from upstart Terence Atmane of France and advanced to the finals of the Cincinnati Open with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory.

Sinner will face familiar foe Carlos Alcaraz in the final after the No. 2-seeded Spaniard cruised past No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-4, 6-3.

The two last met in the final at Wimbledon a month ago, when Sinner broke an Alcaraz five-match winning streak in the rivalry to claim his first-ever Wimbledon championship.

The defending champion in Cincinnati, Sinner reached his eighth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 final and extended his winning streak on hard courts to 26.

Both big servers, Sinner and Atmane routinely held serve in the first set, combining for 12 aces and just one double fault. But the southpaw Atmane missed both serves on the first point of the tiebreaker and never recovered, dropping it 7-4.

Sinner, who was celebrating his 24th birthday, finally broke serve in the fourth game of the second set and finished the job with another break in the final game.

'(A) very, very tough challenge,' Sinner said in the on-court interview after the match. 'Every time you play someone completely new, it's very difficult. Playing against these guys in the later stages of tournaments makes it even more difficult. The pressure is higher, you know they deserve to be there.'

Sinner was highly complimentary of Atmane, who entered the event ranked No. 136 in the world. The Frenchman defeated top-10 players Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune to reach the semifinals. He has vaulted up to a career-best 69th in the rankings.

'He's beaten incredible players to reach the semifinals. I knew I have to be very careful,' Sinner said Saturday. 'My mindset today was in a good spot. I handled the situations on the court very well. He was serving incredibly well the first set. He has huge, huge potential -- I think we saw this throughout the tournament.

'I wish him only the best. From my side, I'm very happy to be in the finals again.'

Sinner won 49 of 60 points (81.7 percent) on his serve in the warm Cincinnati conditions and did not face a break point in the match.

Alcaraz had to overcome the more acclaimed Zverev in the nightcap. But he did so in emphatic fashion, hitting 27 winners in a match that lasted 1 hour, 45 minutes, due in part to Zverev physically struggling.

'We started the match really good, playing good rallies, a good level of tennis,' Alcaraz said. 'But then all of a sudden he started to feel bad. And then my focus, I was thinking about how he's feeling, besides focusing on myself and playing good tennis. It was a really difficult situation for me and I just wish him all the best.'

The Spaniard notched 11 aces while converting 29 of 61 (48 percent) return point opportunities.

Although Alcaraz has never won the championship in Cincinnati, this will be his second finals appearance after a near-miss against Novak Djokovic in 2023. And Alcaraz is eager to face Sinner once again.

'We raise our level to the top and we bring a really beautiful tennis to the match,' Alcaraz said. 'I'm ready to take the challenge. I'm ready to see the things that I did wrong in the last match and trying to be better on that side on Monday.'

--Field Level Media