Tennis player Tomáš Macháč sensationally knocked out second-ranked player Carlos Alcaraz from Spain with a score of 7:6, 7:5 in Shanghai and advanced to the semifinals of the Masters tournament for the first time in his career. His next opponent will be world number one Jannik Sinner from Italy.
The 23-year-old Macháč beat the favorite two years younger in one hour and 55 minutes. He won the decisive break over this year’s winner of Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the eleventh game of the second set and then finished the match with a supremely clean game.
The four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz was defeated by the 33rd-ranked player Macháč for the first time in his career a month after he gave up the first Davis Cup match due to leg cramps after winning the first set. The Beroun native lost to Sinner this year at the Miami tournament in his only Masters quarter-final so far.
“I’m looking forward to it. I’m enjoying it a lot and I’m happy to play against the best,” Machac said after ending Alcaraz’s 12-game winning streak. The win over the star Spaniard is one of the most valuable in Macháč’s career so far, along with the May win over the then world number one Novak Djokovic at the tournament in Geneva.
In the first set today, both players held their serves. Only Alcaraz had break points, but the Czech tennis player parried both. Macháč won the shortened game 7:5 and in the third game he managed to take the opponent’s serve for the first time in the match. But the Spaniard got out of the unfavorable situation and equalized at 3:3. After that, both players guarded their serves relatively without problems, until Macháč managed to pass Alcaraz at the net with a backhand in defense and took a 6:5 lead. He converted the first match point in the following game with a forehand volley.
“I knew that I was playing very good tennis now. I beat Tommy Paul in the last match after an incredible performance,” Macháč recalled the round of 16 win over the thirteenth-ranked player. “You have to play great with these players, otherwise it’s 2-6, 3-6 and you’re going home. There’s no other option. You never know with a player like Alcaraz even at 5-4. I played great tennis against him in the Davis Cup, but just one set. Today it was two and that was enough,” praised the Olympic mixed doubles champion.
After Geneva and the September tournament in Tokyo, Macháč advanced to his third semi-final this year, but by far the most valuable. He has been in the finals only once in his career, after a win over Djokovic in Geneva, where he then lost to Norway’s Casper Ruud.
Sinner advanced to the semifinals after a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Russian Daniil Medvedev. The now 23-year-old Italian lost their first six matches with Medvedev, who is five years older. However, since last year’s final in Beijing, the Italian has found a recipe for his Russian rival, won seven of the following eight duels and today leveled the balance at 7:7. The Innichen native hit nine aces and saved the only break point he faced.
Another Czech tennis player, Jakub Menšík, will also play for the semi-finals on Friday, whose opponent will be Djokovic, who is striving for the 100th title in his career. The fourth quarter-final pair consists of American Taylor Fritz and Belgian David Goffin.
Shanghai Men’s Tennis Tournament (hard court, $10,298,535 endowment):
Singles – Quarter Finals: Makhač (30-CR) – Alcaraz (3-Sp.) 7:6 (7:5), 7:5.
