Alcaraz angered by Machac in Shanghai and Sabalenka rallies in Wuhan

SHANGHAI (AP) — No. 2 ranked Carlos Alcaraz Tomas Machac ended his twelve-game winning streak on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters with 7:6 (5), 7:5.

It was Machac's No. 33 in the third tour-level quarterfinal, and the Czech player proved more than a match for the four-time major winner from Spain as he claimed his second win over a top-five in two hours this year -Opponent won.

Machac will play at the top Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.

“I knew my level of tennis was going to be great because I'm definitely playing my best right now,” Machac said. “I beat Tommy Paul (in my) last match with an incredible performance. With those types of players, I have to play that level, otherwise it's 6-2, 6-3 (and) you go home, there's no other option.

Alcaraz, who won the China Open found out in a thriller against Sinner last week The resignation of Rafael Nadal announced this shortly before the match, but said that the news about his idol did not affect his match.

“It's a really difficult thing, really difficult news for everyone and even more difficult for me,” Alcaraz said. “He has been my idol since I started playing tennis. I look up at him. Thanks to him, I really wanted to become a professional tennis player. In some ways it will be difficult for us to lose him, so I will try to enjoy it as much as possible when he plays.

“But we will be playing in Saudi Arabia and then the Davis Cup, so I will try to enjoy my time with him as much as possible. But yes, it’s a shame for tennis and for me.”

Sinner reached his fifth ATP Masters semifinal of the season as the Italian defeated fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.

Sinner started strong and faced just one break point in his 6-1, 6-4 masterclass win against the Russian, who needed shoulder treatment from the physiotherapist in the second set.

“I’m very happy with how I handled today and this game,” said Sinner. “It felt like he had a bit of shoulder pain and couldn't hit his forehand as well as he wanted to. Hopefully he can recover as quickly as possible, but for me it was a great game, a great fight and let's see what I can do now in the semi-final.”

With Thursday's victory, the two-time major winner leveled his head-to-head series against Medvedev at 7-7, but has won seven of the last eight meetings with the Russian.

Wuhan open

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka recovered from a set down to beat No. 35 Yulia Putintseva 1-6, 6-4, 6-0 to maintain her unbeaten record at the Wuhan Open and move to the top of the race to the WTA Finals to rise.

Sabalenka, the US Open championis 14-0 in Wuhan, having won the title in her first appearance in 2018 and defending her title in 2019 before the tournament took a five-year break from the calendar due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

The three-time major winner started slowly but really got going in the second set and carried that momentum into the deciding set to secure a place in the quarterfinals against Beatriz Haddad-Maia or Magdalena Frech.

Sabalenka finished the game with 44 winners and 33 unforced errors, while Putintseva scored 13 winners and 14 unforced errors.

Coco Gauff reached the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-1 win over 17th-ranked Marta Kostyuk.

It was fourth-ranked Gauff's eighth consecutive victory after the American won that one China Open last week.

Gauff fired two aces and broke the Ukrainian's serve five times – losing a serve of her own – as she won a one-sided match and extended her lead in her head-to-head series to 3-1.

Next up for Gauff is 45th-seeded Magda Linette, who continued her impressive form this week by beating eighth-seeded Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-3.

“She is a tough opponent,” Gauff said of Linette. “We haven’t played since (the 2021 US Open). I really don't know what to expect. But just from watching her play, she played some great games here in Wuhan.

“I expect it to be a tough game. She’s not an easy opponent.”

Gauff will be the only American left in the draw after third-seeded Jessica Pegula and Tour rookie Hailey Baptiste lost.

Pegula, the US Open finalist, had a tough afternoon against China's Wang, ranked 51st

Wang had won their only previous second-round meeting at Wimbledon in three sets and got off to a fast start here, beating Pegula twice in the opening set to take the lead.

After her first win over a top 10 player in the preliminary round, Baptiste was defeated by Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1, 6-1.

Gold medalist at the Paris Olympics Zheng Qinwen beat Leylah Fernandez 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 and sixth seed Jasmine Paolini defeated Erika Andreeva 6-3, 6-2.

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EDs: Please note that this story corrects the fact that Aryna Sabalenka is No. 1 in the race to the WTA Finals, not the WTA rankings.

AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis