Alcaraz out of Shanghai after winning eighth title of season; Sinner in final

Carlos Alcaraz won his eighth title of a sensational season on Tuesday in Tokyo and then pulled out of the Shanghai Masters because of “physical issues” and took aim at tennis’ packed schedule.

The Spanish world number one hurt his ankle in his opening match at the Japan Open but shrugged off the issue to beat American Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

But immediately after downing the world number five, the six-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz took aim at the tennis calendar.

“The schedule is really tight. They have to do something with the schedule,” the recently crowned US Open champion told reporters in the Japanese capital, echoing the sentiments this week of fellow major champions Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.

Alcaraz subsequently wrote on Instagram that he will not play at the prestigious Shanghai Masters starting this week.

Alcaraz injured his ankle last week in Tokyo as he ran for a shot, crumpling to the ground and sitting on the court for about five minutes.

He returned to play with heavy strapping on his ankle and has admitted that the injury had been on his mind throughout the tournament.

It did not appear to bother him against Fritz, as he gave another breathtaking display to lift the trophy in his first appearance in Japan.

Gauff called Tuesday for shorter seasons and said it was “impossible” to play more than she already does, after Swiatek also hit out at the number of tournaments.

They were speaking at the China Open, where five players retired injured from matches on Monday.

Gauff, the defending China Open champion and two-time major winner, weighed in after top seed Swiatek said on Monday she may skip mandatory tournaments to protect her health.

Poland’s world number two Swiatek called the WTA’s mandatory requirements “pretty crazy”.

Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner underlined his dominance on hardcourts in the Asian swing of tournaments by outlasting Australian third seed Alex de Minaur 6-3 4-6 6-2 on Tuesday to reach his third straight China Open final.

In the title clash, the four-times Grand Slam winner will take on 19-year-old American Learner Tien after former U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev retired from their semi-final with what looked like cramp while trailing 7-5 5-7 0-4.

“I think (Medvedev) was cramping, I’ve been there and it’s not fun. All the best to him,” Tien said. “It’s not how you want to come through a match but I’m happy to be in the final.

“Excited to play Sinner. I think any time you have a chance to play one of the top guys I think it’s a great experience and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Medvedev, who had battled from two breaks down to edge the opening set, struggled physically before letting a 5-3 lead slip in the second.

Tien fought back to force a decider and the Russian, hampered by what seemed like cramp, pulled the plug early in the third, sending the American through to his first ATP tour final.

Medvedev also had a heated exchange with the umpire after receiving a code violation for failing to play a return in the third set before calling for the match supervisor.

FAST START

Sinner made a typically fast start in his bid to secure an 11th straight victory over De Minaur, breaking the world number eight to love for a 4-2 lead, but he had to battle hard in the next game to hold serve.

The 2023 champion had no trouble wrapping up the first set from there but ran into trouble early in the next, appearing to struggle physically at times, before tight holds helped him level at 3-3 and 4-4.

De Minaur persevered to win only his second ever set against the Italian with a gutsy performance in the 10th game but Sinner regrouped in the decider, breaking in the first game and holding off his opponent to reach a ninth straight final on hardcourts.

Agencies