SHANGHAI, China (Reuters) – World number one Jannik Sinner moved a step closer to his first Shanghai Masters title after he defeated Czech 30th seed Tomas Machac 6-4 7-5 in the semi-final on Saturday, becoming the first Italian to reach the tournament’s showpiece match.
Machac made a promising start to the match by winning the opening two games before Sinner got on the board before the top-seeded Italian closed out a hard-fought first set in 44 minutes after errors flew from Machac’s racket.
The twice Grand Slam champion was made to work hard by Machac, even more so in the second set, but Sinner proved too solid for his fellow 23-year-old as he sealed his 64th win of the year while making just nine unforced errors.
Having won the gold medal in mixed doubles at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Machac on Thursday ended four-times Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz’s 12-match winning streak to reach the last four.
Sinner will next face record fourth-seeded 24-times major winner Novak Djokovic or American seventh-seed Taylor Fritz, who play in the second semi-final later on Saturday.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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