SHANGHAI – Top-ranked Jannik Sinner will seek his seventh ATP title of the year in the final of the Shanghai Masters after beating Tomas Machac 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday.
The victory ensured that Sinner will be the ATP No. 1 at the end of the year. He is the first Italian to achieve that feat.
His 64th victory of the year set him up for a final against four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic or seventh-ranked Taylor Fritz.
The Italian weathered a storm of almost two hours from the bottom of Machac, number 33 in the rating, who defeated number 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.
Sinner has a chance to claim his third Masters title in 2024 following victories in Miami and Cincinnati, in addition to his victories at the Australian Open and US Open.
“I just tried to stay there at every point, to see what was going to happen,” Sinner said. “I just played every point with the maximum intensity I could, so I'm very happy about that. I'm happy to be in a final again.
“I'm looking forward to (the final) to try to find a solution in some way… and I hope he wins the game.”
Sinner fired 10 aces and 28 winners, against just seven unforced errors, in a characteristically efficient performance.
In Saturday's other semifinal, Djokovic starts with a 9-0 record against Fritz. It is Djokovic's 77th Masters semi-final and Fritz's fifth.
Wuhan Open
Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka recovered from a slow start to beat Coco Gauff 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals to advance to her third consecutive final in Wuhan and preserve her perfect record in the tournament.
Sabalenka will face seventh-ranked Zheng Qinwen or 51st-ranked Wang Xinyu in the final, where she will seek her fourth title of the season, which includes the Australian Open and the US Open.
The Belarusian's 16th consecutive victory in Wuhan ended Gauff's recent nine-win streak, including the China Open title last week. But it all seemed a little unsure for Sabalenka, as she fell 6-1 in the first set.
In a fight between the last two US Open champions, Gauff led with a break early in the second, but Sabalenka responded to level at 4-4 and saved a break point on serve to take a 5-4 lead.
Serving to stay in the set, Gauff was broken when Sabalenka hit a forehand volley to force a deciding set.
The Belarusian carried her momentum into the third, extending her streak to seven games to take a 3-0 lead. Gauff fought back to tie it at 4-4, but Sabalenka held strong to stop Gauff's run.
Sabalenka broke once again after Gauff committed her 21st double fault on match point, ending the two-and-a-half-hour match.
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