Machac knocks out Alcaraz, sets up Sinner semis

World number two Carlos Alcaraz was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters in straight sets by 33rd-ranked Tomas Machac on Thursday, losing 7-6 (7/5), 7-5.
The Czech will face world number one Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals, after a surprisingly straightforward 6-1, 6-4 victory over an injured Daniil Medvedev earlier. Alcaraz’s match came shortly after his idol and compatriot Rafael Nadal announced he would retire after the Davis Cup finals in November.
“Honestly I couldn’t believe it,” said Alcaraz, but insisted it hadn’t affected his playing. “Thankfully I saw it one hour before the match, so I had time to accept it and forget it.”
The 21-year-old said to see Nadal “leave tennis, which is what he loves, is painful”, adding it was “difficult news for everyone”.
Alcaraz was stunned by 23-year-old Machac’s hard-hitting pace. “His level was so high, I thought he was going to give me a window of opportunity, but he didn’t... It was unbelievable. It was crazy for me,” the four-time Grand Slam champion said afterwards.
The Czech edged him out in a closely fought first-set tiebreak after neither player was able to break their opponent’s serve. The Spaniard looked like he might make a comeback when he broke in the sixth game of the second set to level.
However, Machac powered through and broke Alcaraz again in the 11th game to claim the shock victory and progress to the semi-finals. “I knew that against Alcaraz I have to play at this level to have a chance to win,” said Machac, saying there were “no other options”.
He said he would try more of the same against Sinner. “He’s playing unbelievable tennis... but I’m really looking forward to the challenge, so I will enjoy it,” Machac said.
Sinner, who Alcaraz beat in the China Open final last week, looked strong from the beginning of his match against Medvedev. This was the fifth time the two have met in the latter stages of tournaments this year, and the Italian has won four of those clashes.
In the first set, which lasted only 25 minutes, the Italian broke Medvedev in the second and sixth games to murmurs of surprise from the crowd. The Russian kept holding his shoulder, which he had said the day before had “some niggles”, and received medical attention several times during the match.
“The energy of a winner, I would say today I didn’t have it unfortunately because of my physical condition,” said Medvedev. “And that’s going to be the focus to try to get it back. He didn’t play at his best,” said Sinner, acknowledging the injury. But this can happen and 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. It was a good performance from my side.”
Home hopes Zheng and Wang through to last-eight in Wuhan
Zheng Qinwen and Wang Xinyu kept Chinese hopes alive as they swept into the last eight of the WTA Wuhan Open at home on Thursday.
Fifth seed Wang ousted US Open finalist Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-5 while Olympic champion Zheng rallied past Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 5-7, 6-3, 6-0. Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, a two-time Wuhan champion, and freshly-crowned China Open champion Coco Gauff also advanced to the quarter-finals.
Zheng has had an incredible stretch of results since losing in the Wimbledon first round in July, winning 22 of the 25 matches she has contested. The 22-year-old was made to work in her last-16 clash, needing two hours and 29 minutes to see off Fernandez, also 22.
Zheng, who is inching closer to a qualification spot at the season-ending WTA finals in Riyadh, will square off with Italian third seed Jasmine Paolini for a semi-final berth.
Earlier in the day, Wang upset second seed Pegula to reach her first ever WTA 1000 quarter-final. Wang, 23, punished Pegula’s second serve, breaking the American four times for just the second top-10 victory of her career – both against Pegula this season.
Belarus’ Sabalenka avoided an upset, pulling through 1-6, 6-4, 6-0 against Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, to maintain her perfect record at the tournament with a 14th straight win. The No. 2 set up a last-eight showdown with Magdalena Frech, who beat Beatriz Haddad Maia in straight sets. Gauff extended her current winning streak to eight matches with a routine 6-4, 6-1 victory over Ukrainian 13th seed Marta Kostyuk. Fourth-seeded Gauff next plays Poland’s Magda Linette.