Carlos Alcaraz made it through to the China Open final and a potential date with world No 1 Jannik Sinner after victory against Daniil Medvedev.
The Spaniard claimed his third victory in a row this year against Medvedev 7-5 6-3 to reach his fifth final in 2024.
Alcaraz set a championship-match clash against top seed Sinner or home wild card Yunchaokete Bu in the Chinese capital.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Medvedev and Alcaraz played out an incredible rally, which included a drop shot, tweener and then Spaniard coming out on top with a winning return
The reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion prevailed in a topsy-turvy first set that featured five breaks of serve before accelerating past Medvedev in the second to wrap an 88-minute triumph.
“I’m really happy that I didn’t lose my focus too long in the first set,” said Alcaraz. “I recovered it as soon as I got broken, and I’m really happy that at the end of the set I was able to play really good tennis in the return game and then serving at 6-5. I did a really good game.
“After that, once you are one set up, it’s a little bit easier, playing against Daniil with more confidence.”
Since his disappointing second-round loss to Botic van de Zandschulp at the US Open, Alcaraz has now racked up eight consecutive victories as he chases his first ATP title since his victory at the All England Club in July.
“You have to keep fighting,” reflected Alcaraz. “You have to keep playing the same way that you were playing before and just forget about the opponent. You should focus on yourself and your tennis, so that’s what I tried to do. I was still playing the same way I had played until that point in the match. I didn’t lose the focus in that moment, so I’m really happy that I kept pushing.”
Tale of the Tape
With his win over Medvedev, Alcaraz made it 7-1 vs the Top-5 in 2024.
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis in October?
- Shanghai Masters – ATP 1000 (October 2-13)
- Wuhan Open – WTA 1000 (October 6-12 – Emma Raducanu in qualifying action)
- Almaty Open, Kazakhstan – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
- Stockholm Open, Sweden – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
- European Open, Antwerp – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
- Japan Open, Osaka – WTA 250 (October 14-20)
- Ningbo Open, China – WTA 500 (October 14-20)
- Erste Bank Open, Vienna – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
- Swiss Indoors, Basel – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
- Guangzhou Open, China – WTA 250 (October 21-27)
- Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis, Tokyo – WTA 500 (October 21-27)
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.