SHANGHAI (AP) — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner will chase his seventh ATP title of the year in the Shanghai Masters final after beating Tomas Machac 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday.
Victory ensured Sinner will be the ATP year-end No. 1. He is the first Italian to achieve that feat.
His 64th match win of the year set up a final against four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic or seventh-ranked Taylor Fritz.
The Italian weathered a nearly two-hour baseline storm from No. 33-ranked Machac, who beat No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.
Sinner has a shot at his third Masters title in 2024 following victories in Miami and Cincinnati, to go with his wins at the Australian Open and U.S. Open.
“I just tried to stay there every point, to see what was going to happen,” Sinner said. “Just playing every point with the maximum intensity I could, so I’m very happy about that. I’m happy to be back in a final again.
“I’m just looking forward to (the final), to try to find a solution somehow … and hopefully it’s going to win the match.”
Sinner fired 10 aces and 28 winners, against only seven unforced errors, in a characteristically efficient performance.
In Saturday’s other semifinal, Djokovic starts with a 9-0 head-to-head record against Fritz. It is Djokovic’s 77th Masters semifinal and Fritz’s fifth.
Wuhan Open
Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka rallied from a slow start to beat an in-form Coco Gauff 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals to advance to her third straight Wuhan final and preserve her perfect record at the tournament.
Sabalenka will face seventh-ranked Zheng Qinwen or No. 51-ranked Wang Xinyu in the final, where she will be bidding for her fourth title of the season, which includes the Australian Open and U.S. Open.
The Belarussian’s 16th straight victory at Wuhan ended Gauff’s own recent win streak at nine, including the China Open title last week. But it looked anything but certain for Sabalenka as she crashed 6-1 in the opening set.
In a fight between the last two U.S. Open champions, Gauff led by a break early in the second but Sabalenka responded to pull 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 as Sabalenka hit a lunging forehand volley to force a deciding set.
The Belarussian carried her momentum into the third, extending her streak to seven games for a 3-0 lead. Gauff fought back to level at 4-4, but Sabalenka held strong to halt Gauff’s run.
Sabalenka broke once more after Gauff hit her 21st double fault on match point, ending the 2 1/2-hour match.
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