Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic hits a shot against Carlos Alcarez of Spain in the men's singles quarterfinals at the Shanghai Masters in east China's Shanghai Municipality, October 10, 2024. /CFP
Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic put an end to World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz's journey at the Shanghai Masters, in east China's Shanghai Municipality, after beating the Spaniard 7-6(5), 7-5 in the men's singles quarterfinals on Thursday.
Machac put pressure on Alcaraz with quick serves and groundstrokes to establish the advantage, on his way to taking the first-set tiebreak. Exchanging breaks in the second set, Alcaraz worked to level the match, but Machac broke his serve again in the 11th game to complete the stunning victory.
Alcaraz thought the Czech displayed his competitiveness in the match.
"I feel like I was playing against a Top 5 player, not even Top 10. His level was so high. I thought that he was going to give me an opportunity, a window, but he didn't. His ball speed, it was unbelievable," the four-time Grand Slam winner said.
Summarizing his three weeks in China, Alcaraz was satisfied.
"It has been a really good swing. Obviously lifting the trophy in Beijing was a great thing to achieve. Coming here, I went farther than last year, so it was a good point," he noted.
Jannik Sinner of Italy hits a shot against Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the men's singles quarterfinals at the Shanghai Masters in east China's Shanghai Municipality, October 10, 2024. /CFP
Machac will meet top-seeded Jannik Sinner in the semifinals. Italy's World No. 1 eased past fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-1, 6-4 in the last eight.
Medvedev was dealing with discomfort in his shoulder and was not in his best form. He suffered a quick loss in the first set and paused to receive treatment midway through the second set. His performance improved afterward, but the Russian still allowed a break in the fifth game, en route to being swept out of the tournament.
"It was a great match for my side. Obviously, we know each other a little bit better every time when we play against (each other)," Sinner said.
"I felt like he had some shoulder problems today, and I think we all could see, so he didn't play at his best, especially with the forehand, but this can happen. I took advantage of that today. I felt like I was playing some good tennis, especially the first set, trying to keep going in the second set, and it was a good performance from my side," the two-time Grand Slam champion concluded.