Tomas Machac has Jannik Sinner fully in his sights as he prepares to take on the Italian in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters.
The Czech booked his spot in the final four of the competition with an impressive victory over Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday afternoon.
Machac secured a 7-6 7-5 success to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, and he has already set his sights on causing another upset after putting the world No. 2 to the sword in style.
Speaking after his victory, Machac said: “Well I was playing unbelievable. I knew my level of tennis today would be great because I’m playing the best of my career right now for sure.
“I beat Tommy Paul last match with an unbelievable performance. With these kind of players, I have to play at this level. Otherwise, it’s 6-2 6-3 and you go home. There’s no other option.”
Asked whether he felt heading into the match that he would beat Alcaraz, the world No. 33 continued: “Actually I knew I had a chance. But you never know.”
“With players like him, if you have a set and are serving at 5-4, it’s really far from winning the match. I played him at Davis Cup and I only managed to play this kind of level for just one set. Today was two. Enough.”
The victory now sees Machac set up a clash with Sinner, and he will be hoping to complete his hat-trick of beating the best in the business following his wins over Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, who he faced in Geneva.
Speaking about his emotions ahead of the match with Sinner, he said: “I’m looking forward to that. I am really enjoying being in the semifinals and I’m happy I can play against the best players.”
The loss sees Alcaraz’s 12-match winning streak come to an end and ensures that Sinner will end the year as world No. 1. The Italian will be hoping to mark that achievement with a win in Shanghai.
Sinner progressed into the semi-finals of the competition with a 6-1 6-4 success over Daniil Medvedev. Speaking after the win, he said: “I’m very happy with how I handled this match. It felt like he had a bit of shoulder pain, he couldn’t hit the forehand as well as he liked to. It was a great match, great battle, and let’s see what I can do in the semis.”
