Muchova ends Sabalenka's 15-match winning streak in the quarterfinals of the China Open

BEIJING (AP) — Karolina Muchova ended runner-up Aryna Sabalenka's 15-game winning streak with a 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-4 win in the quarterfinals of the China Open on Friday.

Muchova, ranked 49th, secured set points in the first set and came from 4-2 behind in the third to win in 2 hours and 46 minutes.

It was the third time in a row that Muchova, a US Open semifinalist won against the three-time major winner last month and the Czech player now leads his straight series 3-1.

Sabalenka's streak began with a title win in Cincinnati in August and continued with a run to the championship at the US Open last month. She also won the Australian Open At the beginning of the year. She also had the best streak of her career with 15 wins in the 2020-21 seasons.

Muchova will meet Zheng Qinwen, gold medalist at the Paris Olympics in the semi-finals after the 21-year-old went all out to defeat Mirra Andreeva of Russia and keep her bid to become Beijing's first domestic champion alive.

The fifth-seeded Zheng recovered from a loss in the final set to win 5-7, 6-0, 6-4 and become the first Chinese semi-finalist in Beijing since Wang Qiang in 2018.

Shanghai Masters

Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and American duo Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul all cruised through their second-round matches at the Shanghai Masters with straight-set wins.

There was a surprise, however, when 91st-ranked Aleksandar Vukic beat eighth-seeded Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to score the biggest win of his career.

“I’m very proud of myself, very happy,” said Vukic. “I played a very good game. It was very clean.”

Fifth-seeded Medvedev fought back from a loss in both sets to claim a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Thiago Seyboth Wild, who defeated the Russian in the first round of the French Open last year.

Medvedev will next face Matteo Arnaldi and could face Tsitsipas in the fourth round.

The 12th-seeded Tsitsipas, who lost in the first round at the Japan Open last week, had a tough test against Kei Nishikori but prevailed 7-6 (6), 6-4 in 105 minutes to avenge his defeat against the Japanese Montreal Masters in August.

Tsitsipas will face Frenchman Alexandre Müller in the third round. Muller defeated 18th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-2, with the Canadian now having lost the opening game in four of his last five tour-level tournaments.

The 16th-ranked Shelton, who reached the quarterfinals in Shanghai last year, hit 11 aces to beat Denis Shapavalov of Canada 6-3, 7-5.

It took his 11th-seeded compatriot Tommy Paul barely an hour to defeat Italian Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-3. Paul will play 19th seed Alejandro Tabilo in the third round.

Another American, Alex Michelson, defeated rising Chinese star Bu Yunchaokete 6-3, 6-4 in a first-round match that was postponed due to Bu's semifinal appearance at the China Open.

The 32 seeds received a bye in the first round, including leader Jannik Sinner and runner-up Carlos Alcaraz met in the final of the China Open on Wednesday. Sinner starts against Taro Daniel from Japan and Alcaraz meets Shang Juncheng from China.

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