In an impressive display of athleticism, Carlos Alcaraz secured his spot in the men’s final of the China Open with a straight-sets victory over Daniil Medvedev, clinching the match 7-5, 6-3. Reflecting on his performance, Alcaraz expressed his satisfaction, stating, “I felt great on the court once again, so I’m really happy about it. I think I couldn’t ask for a better semi-final.” The Spanish star now leads their head-to-head matchups 6-2 and will take on world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final after the Italian defeated wildcard Bu Yunchaokete.
Despite facing a challenging first set that featured five breaks of serve, Alcaraz secured it with a vital break in the 12th game. “Having the confidence of a set lead helped me push harder,” he noted after wrapping up the match in just 88 minutes. This victory marks his eighth consecutive win across various tournaments since his upset at the US Open.
On the other side of the draw, Sinner extended his winning streak to 15 matches with a 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory over Bu. Acknowledging the challenge ahead, Sinner mentioned, “It’s going to be a tough match. We know each other very well, but every match is different. I’m happy to be in the final.” With their head-to-head record sitting at 5-4 in favor of Alcaraz, the anticipation for their matchup is building.
In women’s tournament action, Coco Gauff advanced to the quarter-finals after Naomi Osaka had to retire due to a back injury. Their much-anticipated match was their first meeting since 2022 and saw Gauff leveling the score at one set each before Osaka decided to shake hands after receiving medical attention. Showing great sportsmanship, Gauff helped carry Osaka’s bags off the court and shared her thoughts, saying, “It was a good match up until this point. I wish Naomi a speedy recovery. No one wants to win a match like this, especially one-set all. Overall, I tried my best. It wasn’t my best tennis.”
Paula Badosa dominated her quarter-final match against US Open finalist Jessica Pegula, winning decisively 6-4, 6-0 to reach her eighth career quarter-final at a WTA 1000-level event. After coming back from 3-1 down in the first set, Badosa acknowledged the challenge of facing Pegula, stating, “She’s one of the players I never want to face. I prepared myself for a battle, but I think everything worked pretty well today.”
Badosa is set to compete next against 35-year-old Chinese player Zhang Shuai, who continued her strong performance with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Magdalena Frech. Having entered the tournament on a 24-match losing streak, Zhang has impressively not dropped a set in her four matches this week, including a notable victory over US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro. “I don’t have much to think about or prepare for since everyone in this draw has a higher ranking than me,” Zhang remarked. “I will just step on the court and focus on myself.”
Ukrainian player Yuliia Starodubtseva made headlines as well, upsetting No. 14-ranked Anna Kalinskaya with a commanding 7-5, 6-0 win. Ranked No. 115, Starodubtseva will next face Gauff in what promises to be an exciting quarter-final match-up.
