Carlos Alcaraz fell this Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters 1000 against Tomas Machac 7-6 and 7-5. The Czech played aggressively and, after the match, said he was proud of his tennis. “I’m playing at my best now. With this type of players you have to do it like this because otherwise it is 6-2 and 6-3 and home. There is no other option, so I am happy because I did it,” he said.
Alcaraz began the match poorly in his climbs to the net — while Machac earned applause from the stands after winning 19 of 20 points at the net. The Murcian seemed to improve as the match progressed, but his rival did not falter and forced the tie break in the first set, to later take the lead on the scoreboard.
The second set was not going to be easier for Alcaraz, who the Czech managed to break serve. The Murcian returned it in the sixth game, but several subsequent failures condemned the Spaniard, who allowed another break and the subsequent victory of Machac, almost two hours into the game.
Before this match, both tennis players had only faced each other once, this year in the Davis Cup, when the Czech had to concede victory after retiring injured. He won the first set 6-7 and lost the second 6-1.
With this defeat, the number two in world tennis is left without repeating in the semifinals the confrontation against the best tennis player of the moment, the Italian Jannik Sinner, whom he had just won at the Beijing Open.
