Shanghai: World number two Carlos Alcaraz was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters in straight sets by 33rd-ranked Tomas Machac, losing 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 on Thursday.
The Czech edged out the four-time Grand Slam champion in a closely fought first-set tiebreak after neither player was able to break their opponent’s serve.
Spain’s Alcaraz appeared to be struggling at the beginning of the second set but broke in the sixth game to level.
However, Machac powered back and broke Alcaraz again in the 11th game to claim the shock victory.
“Against him, I have no other options, I have to play this well to beat him,” 23-year-old Machac said.
He will now face world number one Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.
World number one Jannik Sinner had a surprisingly straightforward 6-1, 6-4 victory over an injured Daniil Medvedev to reach semifinals.
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.
“I’m obviously very happy. I think we know each other very well... It was a very tactical match,” said Sinner.
“It’s a great feeling to be in the semis here, it’s a very special tournament.”
This was the fifth time Medvedev and Sinner have met in the latter stages of tournaments this year.
Sinner beat Medvedev in the semifinals in Miami, the quarterfinals of the US Open and in the Australian Open final, but the Russian ended the Italian’s hopes in the last eight at Wimbledon in an epic five-set battle.
In the Shanghai semifinal, Sinner could meet Alcaraz again after the Spaniard defeated him at the China Open final in Beijing last week. Agencies
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