Beijing, Oct 1 Chinese wildcard player Buyunchaokete's impressive run at the 2024 China Open ATP and WTA event came to an end here on Tuesday, after he lost to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy in the men's singles semifinals. Having entered the tournament ranked 96th in the world, Buyunchaokete secured his spot in the semifinals by defeating fourth-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia in straight sets. Despite a spirited performance, the 22-year-old was unable to overcome the top-seeded Italian, losing 6-3, 7-6(3).
After the scoreline reached 2-2 in the opening set, Sinner started to gain control of the set by breaking Buyunchaokete's service to take a 5-2 lead. Although the underdog managed to win one game back, Sinner closed out the set 6-3.
The second set was more competitive, with Buyunchaokete holding his ground until 6-6 before the 2024 US Open champion won the crucial tiebreak, reports Xinhua.
"Sinner put a lot of pressure on me. My serve was terrible today, possibly the worst of the week, but I tried to adjust during the match. Maybe I was too tired after these intense matches," said Buyunchaokete.
"Buyunchaokete is a very solid player. He has made a breakthrough in the last couple of months, and I hope he can keep going," said Sinner, who is set to face the world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the final, who defeated the world No. 5 Daniil Medvedev of Russia 7-5, 6-3. "I think I played well. Obviously, if I want to beat Daniil, I have to play high-quality tennis. Really happy to play my first final in Beijing," said Alcaraz.
Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai, who suffered a 24-match losing streak before the China Open, stunned 23rd-seeded Magdalena Frech of Poland 6-4, 6-2 to reach the women's singles quarterfinals. "I am delighted to inspire my greatest energy in the China Open again," said Zhang.
"I feel a lot of pressure and nerves because I have already lost 24 matches. It was very tough, more than one and a half years without any winning," said the 35-year-old. "Every day I wake up, I try to go to courts early. I felt sad when I lost, but the next day, I went again. I trusted myself and believed that good results would come."
"In this draw, everyone has a higher ranking than me. I have nothing to lose, so I don't have to think about too much. I will focus on myself in the next match," Zhang added.
After losing to Pegula in their first three encounters, including a defeat in the Cincinnati semifinals last month, Badosa reached the eighth WTA 1000 quarterfinal in her career after comfortably beating Pegula 6-4, 6-0.
"I was moving well. My backhand and my forehand were there today, and I fought. Every point was very important for me, especially against Jessica, because she can come back at any moment. I'm really happy for this win, honestly," the former world No. 2 said.
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