Carlos Alcaraz’s 12-match winning streak came to an end in emphatic fashion as Tomas Machac reached the last four at the Shanghai Masters.
Machac, who was knocked out the US Open by Britain’s Jack Draper, surprised the Spanish third seed to record his second win over a top-5 player, prevailing 7-6 (7-5) 7-5.
Alcaraz, who helped Europe win the Laver Cup last month before going all the way in the China Open at the weekend as he defeated Jannik Sinner in the final, suffered a surprising defeat to the world No 33.
“I knew that the level of my tennis would be great because I am playing the best right now, for sure,” Machac said.
“With these types of players, I have to play this level otherwise it’s (a) 6-2, 6-3 (defeat and) you go home, there is no other option. I am happy I managed to play like this for two sets.”
Machac came into this quarter-final with confidence having been deadlocked with Alcaraz at one-set all in last month’s Davis Cup, only to have to retire because of cramps.
“I knew that I had a chance (to win), but you never know, even with a set and 5-4 it’s still so far from winning the match,” Machac added.
“I played great tennis against him in the Davis Cup but there was this level (for) only one set. Today it was two, so it was enough.”
Sinner to meet Machac in semi-finals
The 23-year-old will take on Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals after the Italian eased to a 6-1 6-4 victory against the fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev.
Sinner, who will end the year as the world No 1, claimed his seventh win in his last eight meetings against Medvedev having lost his first six matches against fifth seed Medvedev.
Medvedev, who required treatment on his shoulder midway through the second set, made 12 winners and 25 unforced errors, with his serve broken three times. Sinner faced – and saved – just one break point.
“I’m very happy how I handled this match” Sinner said after his triumph in one hour and 24 minutes. “It felt like he had a bit of shoulder pain and couldn’t hit his forehand as well as he wished to.
“Hopefully he can recover as fast as possible, but from my side it was a great match, a great battle, and let’s see what I can do now in the semi-finals.”
Sabalenka & Gauff through to quarter-finals at Wuhan Open
Aryna Sabalenka recovered from a poor start to beat Yulia Putintseva and reach the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open.
The top seed, who has lifted the title on both her previous appearances at the WTA 1000 tournament, won only one game in the opening set before turning the match around to triumph 1-6 6-4 6-0.
“That was a really difficult battle,” said Sabalenka. “Yulia always puts up a great fight. I had to work really hard to get this win.
“In the first set, it seems like whatever she would do would play well for her. I was all over the place. I’m really glad that I was able to put myself together in the second set and things clicked.”
Sabalenka will next face Pole Magdalena Frechwho upset ninth seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3 6-2.
The biggest upset of the day, though, saw China’s Wang Xinyu delight the home fans by knocking out second seed Jessica Pegula 6-3 7-5.
China Open champion Coco Gauff continued her winning run by beating Marta Kostyuk 6-4 6-1 while there were also victories for third seed Jasmine Paolini and home favourite Zheng Qinwen.
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis in October?
- Shanghai Masters – ATP 1000 (October 2-13)
- Wuhan Open – WTA 1000 (October 6-12)
- Almaty Open, Kazakhstan – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
- Stockholm Open, Sweden – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
- European Open, Antwerp – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
- Japan Open, Osaka – WTA 250 (October 14-20)
- Ningbo Open, China – WTA 500 (October 14-20)
- Erste Bank Open, Vienna – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
- Swiss Indoors, Basel – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
- Guangzhou Open, China – WTA 250 (October 21-27)
- Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis, Tokyo – WTA 500 (October 21-27)
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TVstreaming service NOW and the Sky Sports appgiving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
