Shanghai Masters 2024 Quarter Final Recap – Perfect Tennis

The semi-final line-up at the 2024 Shanghai Rolex Masters will feature Jannik Sinner, Tomas Machac, Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic, who will play in his eleventh semi-final at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena.

In Thursday’s quarter-finals, Jannik Sinner made light work of Daniil Medvedev in the day’s first match. The Russian struggled with a shoulder problem, which likely explains his subpar forehand and powder puff forehand throughout most of 2024.

Tomas Machac then upset Carlos Alcaraz with a clean display of hitting off both wings. His backhand is always deadly, but his forehand also fired against the Spaniard, coming up with some clean points and a sublime pass to break at the tail end of the second set.

In Friday’s quarter-finals, Taylor Fritz needed 82 minutes to take down David Goffin with a solid serving display to make just his third Masters 1000 semi-final.

Novak Djokovic then showed his staying power to come back from a set down against the hard-hitting Jakub Mensik, bagging a hard-fought win to make the last four.

Shanghai Masters 2024 Quarter Final Results

Winner	Loser	Scoreline
Jannik Sinner (1)	Daniil Medvedev (5)	6-1 6-4
Tomas Machac (3)	Carlos Alcaraz (3)	7-6(5), 7-5
Novak Djokovic (4)	Jakub Mensik	6-7(4) 6-1 6-4
Taylor Fritz (7)	David Goffin	6-3 6-4

Sinner Too Good For Medvedev

Jannik Sinner has Daniil Medvedev’s number as he levelled their H2H at 7-7 with a 6-1, 6-4 win against the fifth seed in Shanghai.

That means Sinner has now won 7 of the last eight matches to turn around Medvedev’s previous dominance and the Italian was in control throughout this one.

We also looked at why Medvedev’s game hasn’t been firing this year—he needed shoulder treatment in the second set, something he’s also hinted at in press conferences as to why he’s not serving well.

He could only win 22% behind his second serve, and his forehand looked severely underpowered. Sinner needed no second invitation to take advantage of those limitations, and there would only be one winner.

Obviously I’m very happy how I handled today and this match. It felt like he had a bit of shoulder pain and couldn’t hit his forehand as well as he wished to. Hopefully he can recover as fast as possible, but from my side it was a great match, a great battle, and let’s see what I can do now in the semi-finals. Sinner on his win.

Match Stats

	Jannik Sinner	Daniil Medvedev
Aces	9	3
Double Faults	0	4
1st Serve Percentage	66%	53%
1st Serve Points Won	85% (28/33)	81% (25/31)
2nd Serve Points Won	59% (10/17)	22% (6/27)
Break Points Saved	100% (1/1)	25% (1/4)
1st Return Points Won	19% (6/31)	15% (5/33)
2nd Return Points Won	78% (21/27)	41% (7/17)
Break Points Converted	75% (3/4)	0% (0/1)
Winners	26	12
Unforced Errors	20	25
Net Points Won	100% (7/7)	73% (8/11)
Max Points In Row	7	4
Service Points Won	76% (38/50)	53% (31/58)
Return Points Won	47% (27/58)	24% (12/50)
Total Points Won	60% (65/108)	40% (43/108)
Max Games In Row	3	1
Service Games Won	100% (9/9)	63% (5/8)
Return Games Won	38% (3/8)	0% (0/9)
Total Games Won	71% (12/17)	29% (5/17)

Highlights

Machac Aces Alcaraz

Tomas Machac has often been touted as not producing the results that correspond to his skills, but he pulled off a big win on Thursday in Shanghai, ending  Carlos Alcaraz’s 12-match winning streak to make the semi-finals at the Qizhong Forest Arena.

The Czech bagged a 7-6(5), 7-5 victory to avenge his loss in the Davis Cup a couple of weeks ago. He was able to more than live with Alcaraz throughout the one hour and 54 minutes, winning the more important points. 

As you can see in the stats, there is very little to separate the two, with Machac winning just two more points in the match. Perhaps his willingness to finish more points at the net helped him finish the job, especially in the second set when Alcaraz broke back to threaten a comeback.

Goffin showed vs. Zverev that coming forward in Shanghai can be an effective play. Federer did it to perfection against Djokovic in 2014, and it worked well for Machac, who won 95% (18/20) points up there.

I knew my tennis level would be great because I am playing the best right now for sure. I beat Tommy Paul [in my] last match with an unbelievable performance. With these players, I have to play this level; otherwise, it’s 6-2, 6-3 [and] you go home, there is no other option. I am happy I managed to play like this for two sets. I knew I had a chance [to beat Alcaraz], but you never know; even with a set and 5-4 [lead], it’s still far from winning the match. I played great tennis against him in the Davis Cup [in September], but there was this level [for] only one set. Today, it was [for] two, so it was enough. Machac on his win.

I felt like I was playing against a Top-5 player. Not even Top 10, no, Top 5. His level was so high. I thought that he was going to give me an opportunity, a window, but he didn’t. From the first game until the last one, his level was so high. His ball speed it was unbelievable. Honestly, I felt good on the court; I felt the ball well, I was hitting well, I was moving well. But, at some point, I didn’t know what to do. It was unbelievable; it was crazy for me. He was always pushing me to the limit, and I thought I had to put the right ball in the right place all the time. If not, I was going to run everywhere, or he was going to make a winner. So I think the pressure he put [on] me was the key to the match. Alcaraz on facing Machac.

Match Stats

	Carlos Alcaraz	Tomas Machac
Aces	8	5
Double Faults	1	2
1st Serve Percentage	67%	58%
1st Serve Points Won	76% (34/45)	72% (39/54)
2nd Serve Points Won	55% (12/22)	54% (21/39)
Break Points Saved	50% (2/4)	88% (7/8)
1st Return Points Won	28% (15/54)	24% (11/45)
2nd Return Points Won	46% (18/39)	45% (10/22)
Break Points Converted	13% (1/8)	50% (2/4)
Winners	25	31
Unforced Errors	20	42
Net Points Won	62% (8/13)	95% (19/20)
Max Points In Row	6	5
Service Points Won	69% (46/67)	65% (60/93)
Return Points Won	35% (33/93)	31% (21/67)
Total Points Won	49% (79/160)	51% (81/160)
Max Games In Row	3	3
Service Games Won	83% (10/12)	92% (11/12)
Return Games Won	8% (1/12)	17% (2/12)
Total Games Won	46% (11/24)	54% (13/24)

Highlights

Fritz Foils Goffin

Taylor Fritz isn’t showing any ill effects from losing his maiden Grand Slam final a few weeks ago and thanks to a decisive 6-3, 6-3 victory over David Goffin, he is into the last four in Shanghai.

Fritz has one of the best first- and second-serve pairings on tour, and he used it effectively against Goffin. He won 70% behind his second serve while converting three of his seven break points to come through in 82 minutes.

I also thought he did a solid job at staying tight to the baseline and not allowing Goffin to get on top in many rallies. Goffin is one of the crispest ball strikers from both wings on tour, and he moves great, but Fritz neutralised that threat well.

With the win, Fritz has a more-than-healthy shot at making the ATP finals, as he sits fifth in the live race.

I feel like sometimes it takes a couple of matches to find my routines, to find what feels good and what is working for me. I feel like once I get past the first two rounds, I feel very locked in. I’ve come this far already, so I might as well really dial it in and I’m just enjoying being here. I think I’ve been serving pretty well all week, especially in the match against Holger [Rune] and today. I knew I had to. I knew serves that might work well against somebody else might not necessarily work against Goffin. The one thing I remembered about playing him is that he’s an incredible returner, and serves I’m not used to seeing come back, they come back. So I really had to be on it with my serve and extra aggressive with second serves. Fritz on his win over Goffin.

Match Stats

	Taylor Fritz	David Goffin
Aces	10	3
Double Faults	0	1
1st Serve Percentage	67%	71%
1st Serve Points Won	68% (28/41)	67% (28/42)
2nd Serve Points Won	70% (14/20)	35% (6/17)
Break Points Saved	75% (3/4)	57% (4/7)
1st Return Points Won	33% (14/42)	32% (13/41)
2nd Return Points Won	65% (11/17)	30% (6/20)
Break Points Converted	43% (3/7)	25% (1/4)
Winners	23	12
Unforced Errors	11	16
Net Points Won	91% (10/11)	57% (4/7)
Max Points In Row	6	4
Service Points Won	69% (42/61)	58% (34/59)
Return Points Won	42% (25/59)	31% (19/61)
Total Points Won	56% (67/120)	44% (53/120)
Max Games In Row	3	2
Service Games Won	90% (9/10)	67% (6/9)
Return Games Won	33% (3/9)	10% (1/10)
Total Games Won	63% (12/19)	37% (7/19)

Highlights

Djokovic Downs Mensik

Novak Djokovic is into the last four, coming from a set down to defeat Jakub Mensik 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-4.

Djokovic started slowly but broke first for a 5-4 lead. However, he couldn’t serve it out, and Mensik hit back with some quality serving to take the tiebreak 7-4.

In the second, Djokovic tightened up his game and began to find his range, making just four unforced errors and winning 92 per cent (11/12) of points behind his first serve.

Djokovic still has huge staying power, and he won the first point of the decider after a 33-shot rally to show he wasn’t going anywhere.

While the decider was a close run affair, with Mensik’s hitting still doing damage, (17 aces for the young Czech), Djokovic forehand power and precision made the difference as he broke for a 3-2 lead, which ultimately proved decisive.

We went toe-to-toe until the last moment. I was fortunate to find great serves in the last game, a couple of aces, that helps. I didn’t serve that well at the end of the first set when I was serving for it. He managed to turn things around by playing a good tie-break. I stayed collected and started off very well in the second [set], I felt that we both had a physical crisis at the beginning of the set. We pushed each other a lot, a lot of long rallies. [It was] a tough battle, almost two and a half hours. Djokovic on his win.

Match Stats

	Jakub Mensik	Novak Djokovic
Aces	17	7
Double Faults	6	1
1st Serve Percentage	60%	63%
1st Serve Points Won	78% (51/65)	83% (43/52)
2nd Serve Points Won	34% (15/44)	57% (17/30)
Break Points Saved	56% (5/9)	0% (0/1)
1st Return Points Won	17% (9/52)	22% (14/65)
2nd Return Points Won	43% (13/30)	66% (29/44)
Break Points Converted	100% (1/1)	44% (4/9)
Winners	34	24
Unforced Errors	43	26
Net Points Won	64% (9/14)	80% (12/15)
Max Points In Row	8	7
Service Points Won	61% (66/109)	73% (60/82)
Return Points Won	27% (22/82)	39% (43/109)
Total Points Won	46% (88/191)	54% (103/191)
Max Games In Row	2	3
Service Games Won	71% (10/14)	93% (14/15)
Return Games Won	7% (1/15)	29% (4/14)
Total Games Won	38% (11/29)	62% (18/29)

Highlights

Shanghai Masters 2024 Semi-Finals