Machac cuts Alcaraz’s wings and eliminates him from the Shanghai Masters 1000

“I love smash! [¡Me encanta rematar!]”, he signed Tomas Machac in the chamber after his victory and there was no need to emphasize it, it had already been clear. In the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters 1000, the Czech finished, finished, finished and then finished to exasperate Carlos Alcaraz and leave him out of the tournament. The good streak of the Spanish, in the air.

Faced with Machac’s power, Alcaraz lacked answers and his defeat in two sets, 7-6(4) and 7-5, was fair. Although it was not the worst of his setbacks. The Masters 1000 will remain a pending issue for the Spaniard – this year he has only played in a few semi-finals, in Indian Wells – and the opportunity to see him again against Jannik Sinner, but any analysis will be lenient with his performance against Machac.

Contrary to what happened a few weeks ago in their confrontation in the Davis Cup, this time Alcaraz put more tennis, more calm and even more courage, but Machac’s game always works against him. The 23-year-old Czech, an irregular tennis player, number 33 in the world, always gives himself over to blows, to smashing the ball with the greatest possible violence, and in front of him there is no possible rhythm. If it is right, it requires defense and sometimes not even with those.

This Thursday in China, Alcaraz played better, he was better, but he never managed to undress his opponent. If anything, one reproach can be made: his weakness in decisive moments. The data is sometimes misleading, but other times it is not. The current world number three needed up to eight break points to convert one while his rival needed four to achieve two breaks.

That inequality was crucial, as was the first set tie-break. Alcaraz had dominated the entire period and had forced Machac to resist, but in sudden death he conceded several errors. The Czech, on the other hand, dedicated himself to the serve and volley (or rather serve and spike), enjoyed that outcome and stood in the second set with the confidence of someone who sees himself as a winner. Alcaraz needed his mistakes to face the comeback and those finally did not come.