Czech Republic's Tomas Machac reacts after winning against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz during their men's singles match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on Thursday — AFP SHANGHAI, Oct 10 (AFP): World number two Carlos Alcaraz has been knocked out of the Shanghai Masters in straight sets by 33rd-ranked Tomas Machac, losing 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 on Thursday.
The Czech will face world number one Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals, after a surprisingly straightforward 6-1, 6-4 victory over an injured Daniil Medvedev earlier.
Machac edged out Alcaraz in a closely fought first-set tiebreak after neither player was able to break their opponent's serve.
The four-time Grand Slam champion, who had said before the match that he was wary of Machac's speed, appeared to be struggling at the beginning of the second set.
The Spaniard looked like he might make a comeback when he broke in the sixth game to level.
However, Machac powered back and broke Alcaraz again in the 11th game to claim the shock victory and progress to the semi-finals.
Alcaraz said he was "a little bit disappointed about today's loss".
"I really wanted to go further, to play against Jannik, but that's tennis I guess. I just have to accept it," he said post-match.
"I felt like I was playing against top five -- his level was so high," Alcaraz said of Machac.
"It was unbelievable, it was crazy for me."
Twenty-three-year-old Machac said he had "no other options" when playing against Alzaraz.
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