Carlos Alcaraz reaches of China Open final, beats Medvedev

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts after defeating Daniil Medvedev of Russia in a men’s singles semi-final match for the China Open tennis tournament held at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

BEIJING — Third-ranked Carlos Alcaraz’s athleticism was again on show as he advanced to the final of the China Open with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday.

“I felt great on the court once again, so I’m really happy about it,” Alcaraz said. “I think I couldn’t ask for a better semifinal.”

The four-time Grand Slam champion — including this year’s French Open and Wimbledon — extended his head-to-head record against the Russian to 6-2. Alcaraz will play either top-ranked Jannik Sinner or Chinese wild card Bu Yunchaokete, who play later Tuesday, in the final.

READ: Carlos Alcaraz reaches winning landmark at China Open

The 21-year-old Spaniard found his way through a testing first set that had five breaks of serve, but crucially it was Alcaraz’s third service break in the 12th game that secured the set.

With the confidence of a set lead, Alcaraz accelerated and Medvedev had no answers as the Spaniard wrapped up the semifinal in 88 minutes.

Alcaraz has now won eight straight matches — across the Davis Cup, Laver Cup and in Beijing — since his loss to Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round at the U.S. Open.

Pegula crashes out

Jessica Pegula of the United States returns a shot from Paula Badosa of Spain in a women’s singles match for the China Open tennis tournament held at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Paula Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over U.S. Open finalist Jessica Pegula at the China Open to reach her eighth career quarterfinal at a WTA 1000-level event.

From 3-1 down in the opening set, former No. 2-ranked Badosa dominated in her first-ever win over third-ranked Pegula.

“She’s one the of the players I never want to face — she’s very solid, hits very flat, changes very well direction,” said Badosa, who was 0-3 previously against Pegula. “I prepared myself for a battle, but I think today everything worked pretty well.

READ: China hails ‘Queen Wen’, the tennis star who fulfilled a dream

“Every point was very important for me, especially against Jessica, because she can come back at any moment.”

Badosa next faces 35-year-old Chinese player Zhang Shuai, who continued her resurgence with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Magdalena Frech of Poland.

Zhang entered the China Open on a 24-match losing streak and ranked No. 595, but she’s yet to drop a set in four matches this week. That includes eliminating U.S. Open semifinalist Emma Navarro in straight sets for her first win over a Top 10 player in two years.

Zhang is now into her first women’s tour quarterfinal since Tokyo in 2022, and her first at a WTA 1000 tournament since Cincinnati in the same year.

“In this draw, everyone has a higher ranking than me,” Zhang said. “Just step on court, just play. So I do not have much to think about, to prepare. I will just focus on myself.”

Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine also caused an upset loss beating No. 14-ranked Anna Kalinskaya 7-5, 6-0.

The No. 115-ranked Starodubtseva will play the winner of the marquee women’s match of the day between four-time major winner Naomi Osaka and sixth-ranked Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals.

It will be the first meeting between the two Grand Slam champions in more than two years, with the head-to-head series tied at 2-2.