The semi-finals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters has been filled and to everyone’s surprise, Carlos Alcaraz does not feature after losing Tomas Machac in two tight sets.
I was playing against him in the Davis Cup and it was great tennis, but I managed to play at this kind of level for just one set. Today was two. Enough! Tomas Machac
That means the Czech has delayed another classic blockbuster between the Spaniard and the world No.1, Jannik Sinner who got through to the last four comfortably.
Machac, who likes to make his shorts shorter than the manufacturer intended, scored one of the best wins of his burgeoning career when he downed the third seed 7-6(5) 7-5 in one hour 54-minutes.
“I was playing unbelievable, but I knew that my level of tennis today would be great, because I’m playing the best right now for sure,” Machac said later.
“I beat Tommy Paul [in my] last match with an unbelievable performance. With these kind of players, I have to play this level, otherwise it’s 6-2 6-3 and you go home! There is no other option to play different tennis than this against them, so I’m happy I managed to play like this [for] two sets.”
It was the second meeting between the two, Machac having retired in their first encounter but not before he took Alcaraz to a tie-break opening set which gave him the confidence to take him on much to the obvious frustration of the Spaniard, who rose to second in world ranking terms after his success last week in Beijing.
“Actually I knew that I had a chance [to win], but you never know, even with [the best players], if you have [won] a set, 5-4 serving, it’s really far from winning the match,” Machac added
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“I was playing against him in the Davis Cup and it was great tennis, but I managed to play at this kind of level for just one set. Today was two. Enough!”
The win has given Machak even more confidence which he hopes will fuel his performance against Sinner in the semis.
“I’m looking forward to that [I’m really happy that I can play against the best ones,” he continued. “I really enjoy it.”
What was remarkable was the way the 23-year-old held his own against a rampant Alcaraz who despite all his efforts, was unable to break down the athletic defences put up by Machak until the tiebreak
There the pair exchanged mini-breaks early until Machac pulled ahead for 5-2, but two wayward forehands let Alcaraz back in but proved unable to gain control although he fired down an ace to save one set point. Machac then hit a brilliant smash to take the set in emphatic style
Machac managed to maintain his level in the second and broke for 2-1 only to lose the advantage in the sixth game when his first serve started to lose its potency. He saved three break-points but couldn’t hold off a fourth allowing Alcaraz to level at 3-3.
At 5-5 another tie-break appeared inevitable, but the world No. 33 earned an opening on Alcaraz’s serve. A huge second serve ace saved one break point, but Machac produced a stunning cross-court pass with Alcaraz stranded at the net to break the Spaniard and serve for the match, which he duly did with a love game to reach his first Masters semi-final.
Carlos Alcaraz congratulates his opponent
(Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
“I felt like I was playing against a Top-5 player,” Alcaraz said after suffering his first defeat since round two of the US Open. “Not even Top 10, no, Top 5. His level was so high – I thought that he was going to give me an opportunity, a window, but he didn’t.
“From the first game until the last one, his level was so high. His ball speed, it was unbelievable. Honestly, I felt good on the court, I felt the ball really well (and) I was hitting well, I was moving well. But, at some points, I didn’t know what to do!”
Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev following their one sided match
(Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Meanwhile Machac’s next opponent, Jannik Sinner, reached his 10th Masters semi-final with a very clinical 84-minute performance to defeat Daniil Medvedev 6-1 6-4.
While he dominated his Russian opponent in what was their 14th meeting, his victory was dampened somewhat as Medvedev was carrying an injury to his right shoulder.
“I’m very happy how I handled today,” Sinner said afterwards. “It felt like he had a bit of shoulder pain, he couldn’t hit the forehand as well as he would like to.
“Hopefully he can recover as fast as possible. From my side, it was a great match, great battle.”
Taylor Fritz eased into the last four
(Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Results in the bottom half of the draw were very much as expected with Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic progressing to contest that sections semi-final.
But whilst the 7th seeded Fritz advanced in straight sets, Djokovic, seeded 4, required three before claiming his allotted last four place.
The American strolled through in 82-minutes, 6-3 6-3 and in the process, dispatched the rejuvenated Belgian David Goffin, 6-3 6-3 to reach his fifth semi-final at Masters level.
“I feel like sometimes it takes a couple of matches to find my routines, to find what feels good and what is working for me,” Fritz said following his win.
“I feel like once I get past the first two rounds, I feel very locked in. I’ve come this far already, so I might as well really dial it in and I’m just enjoying being here.”
And the 26-year-old’s groundstrokes certainly showed that as he converted three of seven break points he raised as Goffin struggled to keep himself in the match.
.“I think I’ve been serving pretty well all week, especially in the match against Holger [Rune in the last 16] and today,” Fritz, who has won 8 titles on the tour, added. “I knew I had to. I knew serves that might work well against somebody else might not necessarily work against Goffin.
“The one thing I remembered about playing him is that he’s an incredible returner, and serves I’m not used to seeing come back, they come back. So, I really had to be on it with my serve and extra aggressive with second serves.”
Novak Djokovic dropped a set
(Photo by Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)
A tactic he will also have to adopt when he faces Djokovic, the record holding 24 grand slam champion who is homing in on his 100th career title, four of which he has won at the current Masters.
And in his current run, he has shown some vulnerability as the talented Czech 19-year-old Jakub Mensik took a set off him before eventually capitulating, after two-hours, 19-minutes, 6-7(4) 6-1 6-4 in a performance which earned plenty of praise from the Serbian.
“Jakub is someone I’ve been following in the last three, four years,” Djokovic said. “We went toe-to-toe until the last moment, until the last game.
“I could see today why he is one of the best servers we have in the game – and he’s only 19.
“I think the future is very bright for him. He knows that I am always there for him, whatever he needs.”
Mensik, who took out the sixth seed Andrey Rublev in the second round, held his nerve in the opening set and certainly looked ready to add the Serbian to his list of achievements.
But Djokovic, as he is prone to do, regrouped well in the second and kept up the pressure in the decider to reach his 78th Masters semi-final
