No Sinner-Alcaraz semi-final at the Shanghai Masters 1000: the Italian world number one qualified on Thursday, but his Spanish runner-up in the ATP rankings was eliminated by the Czech Tomas Machac.
Carlos Alcaraz was unable to win against an impressive opponent, 33rd in the world, who defeated him in two sets 7-6 (7/5), 7-5, and who will play the first semi-final of Masters 1000 of his career.
The Czech, who will enter the Top 30 for the first time at 23 at the end of this tournament, won a high-intensity first set in the tie-break after 1h02 of play.
Machac, very offensive with 21 winning shots (for 23 unforced errors) in the first round, was able to make the Spaniard bend, not decisive enough on important points.
At the start of the second round, the Czech continued to destabilize the Spaniard. Alcaraz finally broke on his serve at 5-5 and lost immediately with a shutout.
Sinner, beaten on October 2 by Alcaraz in the final of the Beijing tournament, will therefore not be entitled to his revenge, but in the process secures his place as world number one.
The Italian easily beat Daniil Medvedev in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday. Confident in his tennis, the 23-year-old was never really put in danger by the 28-year-old Russian.
A little feverish while serving for the match, Sinner offered a single break point to his opponent, when it was time to conclude. But he quickly saved it to win on his second match point thanks to a serve-volley sequence.
With 27 winning shots and only ten unforced errors, Sinner took Medvedev’s serve three times and dominated him in just 1 hour 24 minutes.
“Of course, I am very happy with the outcome of the match,” said Sinner, well aware that Medvedev “had pain in his shoulder, he could not hit the forehand as well as he wanted.”
The Russian continued to hold his right shoulder, which he had already complained about the day before, and received medical attention on several occasions.
Sinner, winner of the Australian Open and the US Open this year but still embroiled in a doping affair, believes that his start to his career is “better” than what he had imagined: “when you are young you never know what’s going to happen,” he commented.
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