BEIJING: Second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz eased to his 12th semifinal appearance of the season with a 6-4, 6-2 win over seventh-seeded Casper Ruud at the China Open on Monday.
The top-seeded Spaniard recovered from falling a break behind in the first set before he overpowered Ruud with 30 winners and four breaks of serve to advance.
“To be able to beat a player like Casper in straight sets is really good,” Alcaraz said. “It means you are playing well. It is really tough, big rallies at the beginning of the match, but I am really happy with the level.
“Being able to find solutions after the start of the first set. These kind of matches give you extra confidence.”
Alcaraz will meet sixth-seeded Jannik Sinner in Tuesday’s semifinals after the Italian downed Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Third-ranked Daniil Medvedev overcame a second-set stumble to beat Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
The Russian struggled to find his usual fluid game in the first two sets but sprung to life in the third set to shake off the 36th-ranked Humbert and progress to his 10th semifinal of the year.
His semifinal opponent will be eighth-seeded Alexander Zverev, who needed three sets to prevail over Nicolas Jarry 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
Swiatek, Gauff advance
Making her first appearance at the China Open, second-ranked Iga Swiatek advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo.
The Pole fired 27 winners and made 25 unforced errors, breaking serve a total of seven times in the win.
“You have to be patient with her because she’s running for every ball,” Swiatek said of her No.55-ranked Spanish opponent. “I kind of wanted to just be solid and be intensive but not make too many mistakes with risking.”
Swiatek will next face Varvara Gracheva.
Third-ranked Coco Gauff defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 6-3. The US Open winner plays Croatian Petra Martic next.
Fifth-seeded Elena Rybakina cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over China’s Zheng Qinwen. Seventh-seeded Ons Jabeur, winner of the Ningbo Open last week, beat Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 6-4 and ninth-seeded Caroline Garcia was a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Kateryna Baindl.
China’s Wang Xinyu beat wildcard Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-3 and 11th-seeded Daria Kasatkina defeated Mayar Sherif 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8).
Jelena Ostapenko, seeded 13th, had a walkover into the round of 16 after Linda Noskova withdrew due to illness. Ostapenko will face either fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula or Anna Blinkova next.
Also in the second-round, Anhelina Kalinina defeated Daria Saville 6-2, 7-6 (5) and Jasmine Paolini beat Yuan Yue 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Magda Linette was leading Jennifer Brady 3-1 when the American retired from the match, and Liudmila Samsonova beat 12th-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-4, 7-5.
Astana Open
Fifth-seeded Sebastian Korda beat wild card Hamad Medjedovic 6-7 (8), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) to advance to the final of the Astana Open and a shot at a second career title.
The 23-year-old American will meet sixth-seeded Adrian Mannarino in Tuesday’s final after the Frenchman beat Sebastian Ofner 6-4, 6-2 in the other semifinal.
