(Beijing) The Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, world No.3, easily dominated the Russian Daniil Medvedev, world No.5, in two sets 7-5, 6-3 Tuesday in the semi-final of the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing.
Winner of Roland-Garros and Wimbledon this year, Alcaraz could meet in the final in China the only other player to win a Grand Slam in 2024, the Italian Jannik Sinner. The world No.1 must beat the Chinese Bu Yunchaokete in the half.
Against Medvedev, the Spaniard was broken twice. But he took control each time, taking the Russian’s service five times.
The four-time Grand Slam winner asserts his domination against the winner of the United States Open in 2021: he now leads in their confrontations 6 victories to 2.
It was on his fourth match point that the Murcian concluded this match, with a forehand out of reach of the Muscovite.
Alcaraz, 21, will aim for a fourth title this year (winner at Indian Wells as well), and already a 16e since the start of his career on the ATP circuit.
Pegula, finalist of the United States Open, eliminated by Badosa
The American Jessica Pegula, world No.3 and recent finalist at the United States Open, was eliminated by the Spaniard Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-0, Tuesday in 8e final of the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing.
Badosa, seeded N.15, will face the Chinese Zhang Shuai in the quarter, falling to 595e world rank, who easily dominated the Polish Magdalena Frech (31e), 6-4, 6-2.
PHOTO NG HAN GUAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paula Badosa
Pegula, seeded N.2 in the Chinese tournament, was one of the favorites of the competition after her almost faultless run in New York where she was beaten by Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in two sets in the final.
But she did not resist the 26-year-old Spaniard, companion of the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who despite five double faults pocketed the first set before quickly breaking away in the second, leading 3-0.
PHOTO NG HAN GUAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jessica Pegula
“It’s special for me, at the end of the season I’m playing really well,” Badosa said after his victory. “I beat a top 10 (player), I wanted to have this result, I’m happy to be in the quarters, it’s an opportunity for me to do better in the next match.”
His future opponent, aged 35, is experiencing an unprecedented recovery in form in Beijing.
Zhang’s victory over Frech is the fourth in a row that she has won in the Chinese capital, each time in two sets, while she remained on 24 defeats in a row in singles.
“Sometimes I lost faith because the results weren’t coming,” Zhang admitted after his victory.
“But my coach told me he trusted me. He told me: ‘It’s certain that one day, if you win, you will be able to continue to win a lot of matches’,” she added. “It helped me a lot,” said the Chinese woman, stressing that “if I had been told to retire, I would have done so.”
This streak of more than 600 days without a victory is the second longest for a player on the WTA circuit since the start of the Open era in 1968.
The Chinese player, former quarter-finalist at the Australian Open (2016) and Wimbledon (2019), was ranked 22e world place in January 2023, before falling in the rankings due to repeated injuries.
In the other part of the table, the Japanese Naomi Osaka, former world No.1, faces Tuesday in 8e the American Coco Gauff, 6e in the WTA rankings. Osaka, who has struggled to regain her consistency since her return to tennis in January after the birth of her daughter, is playing her first tournament under the leadership of French coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Aryna Sabalenka, world No.2 and seeded No.1 in Beijing, will face the American Madison Keys on Wednesday in 8e of final.
The Polish Iga Swiatek, at the top of the WTA ranking and title holder, withdrew for “personal reasons”.