Carlos Alcaraz overcame Daniil Medvedev in a high-quality encounter to reach the final of the China Open for the first time.
The Spanish star delivered a superb performance to prevail 7-5, 6-3 against the world No 5 in the semi-finals of the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing.
The four-time Grand Slam champion now holds a 6-2 record against Medvedev and he has won six of his last seven encounters with the Russian.
Alcaraz‘s victory improved his record against opponents in the top five of the ATP Rankings this season to a stunning 7-1.
The 21-year-old has overtaken world No 1 Jannik Sinner to become the player with the most ATP top five wins in 2024, having been tied with the Italian on six.
Three of Alcaraz’s top five wins this year have come against Medvedev, two have been against Sinner, while he has earned one against both Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic.
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Djokovic is the only player ranked in the top five to defeat Alcaraz this year, with the Serbian triumphing in the Olympic gold medal match.
Indian Wells SF vs. Jannik Sinner (3) – won 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
Indian Wells F vs. Daniil Medvedev (4) – won 7-6(5), 6-1
French Open SF vs. Jannik Sinner (2) – won 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
French Open F vs. Alexander Zverev (4) – won 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
Wimbledon SF vs. Daniil Medvedev (5) – won 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Wimbledon F vs. Novak Djokovic (2)- won 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4)
Olympics F vs. Novak Djokovic (2) – lost 6-7(3), 6-7(2)
Beijing SF vs. Daniil Medvedev (5) – won 7-5, 6-3
In an on-court after beating Medvedev, Alcaraz discussed an opening set that featured five breaks of serve.
“I mean, I started the match pretty well, I think both [players] started pretty well the match,” Alcaraz said. “But yeah it was a little bit unusual, you know, breaking the serve a lot of times in the first set.
“I broke his serve and then in the next game, I don’t know what happened to me, I probably lose the focus a little bit.
“Missing a few first serves against Daniil or on the hard court — [it] is a really good weapon and you have to put good first serves here to put yourself in the position to attack.
“But well, I’m really happy that I didn’t lose the focus so long during the first set. I recovered as soon as I got broken.
“Yeah, really really happy that at the end of the set I was able to put a really good tennis in the return game and in the 6-5 serving, I did a really good game.
“And after that, when you are facing one set up, it’s a little bit easier playing against Daniil or with more confidence. So that’s what I did in the second.”
The world No 3 also addressed how he remained focused after Medvedev suffered an injury midway through the second set.
“Yeah well sometimes you think that, ‘Okay it’s done’, but it’s not done. So you have to keep fighting, you have to keep playing the same way you were playing before and just forget about the opponent,” he added.
“You should focus on yourself, on your tennis. That’s what I tried to do, tried to still play in the same way that I was playing until that point of the match.
“So I didn’t lose the focus in that moment. I’m really happy that I kept pushing him to the limit, kept making him running from side to side and, at the end, got the second break.”
Alcaraz will face either Sinner or Chinese wildcard Bu Yunchaokete in the China Open final.
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