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.
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.
“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.
“The win has given Machac 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 defenses 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.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
