World number 33 Tomas Machac edged past Wimbledon and Roland Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 in 1 hour and 54 minutes three days before his 24th birthday to reach his first Masters 1000 semifinal at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
Machac stopped Alcaraz’s 12-match winning streak.
Machac won 19 of the 20 net points and hit 30 winners, five more than Alcaraz.
Machac achieved his second win over a top-5 opponent after beating Novak Djokovic 6-4 0-6 6-1 in the Geneva semifinals in 2024. Last July Machac and her partner Katerina Siniakova won the Olympic gold medal in the mixed doubles at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Alcaraz was not able to convert two break points in the third and seventh games of the first set. Both players went on serve en route to the tie-break. Machac earned an early mini-break to take a 2-1 lead. Alcaraz pulled back on serve to draw level to 2-2. Machac hit a crosscourt forehand winner to extend his lead to 4-2 and raced out to a 5-2 lead with a smash. Alcaraz drew two errors in a row from Machac to pull back on serve for 4-5. Machac hit a drive down the line drawing a forehand error to earn a double set point at 6-4. Alcaraz saved the first set point with an ace down the middle. Machac hit a forehand drive volley into the corner to close out the 62-minute first set on his second set point.
Machac went up a set and a break with a forehand into the corner in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Machac battled back from 0-40 down, as he was serving at 3-2 and saved four break points. Alcaraz hit a forehand to break back on his fifth opportunity in the sixth game. Alcaraz hit a forehand long to face a double break point at 5-5 15-40. Machac broke serve with a backhand past in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead. The Czech player earned three match points, as Alcaraz missed a backhand crosscourt and converted his chance with a forehand volley winner.
Last September Machac led by a set in his first head-to-head match against Alcaraz in the Davis Cup, but he was forced to retire after the Spanish player levelled the match.
“I knew that the level of my tennis would be great because I am playing right now. 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 so far from winning the match. I played great tennis against Akcaraz in the Davis in September but there was this level for only one set. Today it was for two, so it was enough”, said Machac.
