Machac Ends Alcaraz’s 12-Match Winning Streak, Advances To Shanghai Semifinals

Tomas Machac, Shanghai
Tomas Machac (photo: ATP Tour video)

SHANGHAI/WASHINGTON, October 10, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

Tomas Machac learned a very simple but valuable lesson that has landed him in his very first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal: You have to be brave if you’re going to beat the very best.

On Thursday evening at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, the 30th seeded Machac from the Czech Republic showed plenty of  bravery — mixed with some bravado, too — in upsetting the World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, 7-6 (5), 7-5, in the quarterfinal round for his 30th win of the season. The victory advanced him to play World No. 1 and top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy in Saturday’s semifinals.

The loss ended Alcaraz’s 12-match winning streak, which began last month during Davis Cup play in Valencia and included a victory by retirement over Machac. It also included two wins at the Laver Cup, continued with a title run at the China Open in Beijing last week, in which he bested Sinner in the final decided by a third-set tie-break, and ended with a straight-set loss in Shanghai to Machac in a high-quality match following three earlier wins. Alcaraz will leave Shanghai with a 51-10 win-loss record.

In just his third tour-level quarterfinal, the 33rd-ranked Machac magnificently managed to neutralize Alcaraz throughout much of the one-hour, 55-minute match on Stadium Court at Qi Zhong Tennis Center. By the end, Machac had garnered his second win over a Top-5 opponent following his semifinal win over Novak Djokovic at Geneva earlier this season.

“I was playing unbelievable. I knew that the level of my tennis would be great because I am playing the best right now, for sure,” Machac said during his on-court interview, after earning his 30th victory of the season. “I beat Tommy Paul [in my] last match with an unbelievable performance. With these types of players, I have to play this level otherwise it’s 6-2, 6-3 [and] you go home, there is no other option … I am happy I managed to play like this for two sets.

“I knew that I had a chance [to beat Alcaraz], but you never know, even with a set and 5-4 it’s still so far from winning the match. I played great tennis against him in the Davis Cup [in September], but there was this level [for] only one set. Today it was [for] two, so it was enough.”

The statistics suggested Machac showed great form — and he did. He struck 31 winners — 20 of them came in the opening set — and outpointed Alcaraz 81-79. Machac converted two of four break points, including one that occurred in the 11th game of the final set. He played aggressive in the big moments. The Czech star won on his first match-point opportunity, when he perfectly volleyed a winner from near the net that Alcaraz was unable to get his racquet on. It closed out an exciting back-and-forth seven-shot rally — and, at first, the expression on Machac’s bearded face looked as if he couldn’t believe he had won the match.

Regardless, it all added up to a wonderful performance to savor for Machac, 23, who received congratulations from Alcaraz at the net. “Good luck, man!” the smiling Spaniard could be heard saying.

Later, during his news conference, Alcaraz further praised Machac. “I feel like I was playing against a Top-5 player — not even Top-10 — no, Top-5. His level, it was so high,” he said.

“I thought that he was going to give me an opportunity, a window, but he didn’t. I mean, since 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. I was hitting well, I was moving well. But  at some points, I didn’t know what to do.”

After becoming the fourth lowest-ranked semifinalist in tournament history, Machac will try his luck against Sinner, whom he lost to 6-4, 6-2 in the Miami Open quarterfinals earlier this season.

“I am looking forward to it,” Machac said. “I am really enjoying it and am happy that I can play against the best [players].”

Sinner beats Medvedev for 63rd win of 2024 season

Earlier on Stadium Court, Sinner eased past World No. 5 and fifth seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia, 6-1, 6-4, in an hour and 24 minutes to reach his fifth ATP Masters 1000 semifinal of the season — 10th overall — and first in Shanghai. It was his ATP Tour-leading 63rd win of the season.

“Obviously, I’m very happy how I handled today and this match,” Sinner in his on-court interview. “It felt like he had a bit of shoulder pain and couldn’t hit his forehand as well as he wished to. Hopefully he can recover as fast as possible, but from my side it was a great match, a great battle, and let’s see what I can do now in the semifinals.”

Sinner, who lost his first six tour-level meetings against Medvedev until the 2023 Miami Open final and since has prevailed in seven of the last eight head-to-head matchups to level their career series at 7-7, won 85 percent of his first-serve points, saved the only break point he faced, hit 26 winners and outpointed Medvedev 65-43.

“I try to play every tournament with a good mentality,” Sinner, who leads the ATP Tour with six titles this season, said during his news conference afterward. “Obviously every tournament is different, every situation’s different. The first round matches are usually very, very tough, also the second round, you know, trying to get into the rhythm. But, yes, obviously I feel that the season I’m playing is very, very good season, it’s a high-quality season, and I try to keep going.

“I mean, it’s not over yet, the season, we are still some big tournaments coming up. After here is Paris, and then ATP Finals in Turin, and, you know, it’s not finished yet. But, you know, the first part is always trying to improve daily, you know, what we can see what we have to improve, and that’s it.”

Around the Rolex Shanghai Masters

A day after upsetting No. 1 seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina in a match tie-break, wild cards Jamie Murray of Great Britain and John Peers of Australia fell to Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands.

The Czech/Dutch pair prevailed — also in a match tie-break — 7-6 (2), 4-6, 10-5 to advance to the semifinal round. Next, they will face Argentine duo Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni, who upset No. 4 seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy, the last seeded team remaining, 6-4, 6-4.

The other semifinal will match Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France against Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Nikola Mektic of Croatia.

Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin defeated Ariel Behar of Uruguay and Robert Galloway of the United States, 6-4, 6-4, while Koolhof and Mektic advanced over Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow, 6-3, 6-4.

Thursday’s Rolex Shanghai Masters results

Friday’s Rolex Shanghai Masters order of play

By the numbers

By downing No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev for his 63rd tour-level victory of the 2024 season, Jannik Sinner moved closer to securing the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honors. He currently leads second-place Carlos Alcaraz by 3,020 points in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

“Quotable …”

“It’s really special because, of course, few months ago I was like, Okay, do I just continue like that, or just do I make big effort, do I go back to work physically, technically, mentally with my team. And we just spoke to each other and we said, Okay, let’s go. We just don’t want to have regrets, we just go for it, and we see where I can go in a year.

“All of a sudden, after few weeks, I started to play better, to win matches, good matches, and then win challengers, win matches in, 250, in 500, in 1000, and now to be in a quarterfinal. So it was just better and better week after week, and I felt that I still had the tennis and the level and also the fitness. As soon as I was confident among my body, I felt the tennis was there, but I just have to prove it, and just to show it on the court.

“Week after week I started to do it, and I’m really proud of what I did the last few months, proud of my team, proud of my wife and my daughter as well, so I’m a happy man at the moment.”

— No. 66 David Goffin of Belgium, during his post-match media interview, after upsetting World No. 3 and second seed Alexander Zverev, 6-4, 7-5, to advance to his first ATP Masters 1000 since 2022 at Madrid.

 

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