Tomas Machac is remaining confident he can topple the mighty Carlos Alcaraz and end his 12-match unbeaten streak.
Czech number one Tomas Machac survived a scare against Tommy Paul in the fourth-round, recovering from a set down to progress past the American for the second time in two weeks.
Having picked up Olympic gold in the mixed doubles in Paris, Machac has been building his season carefully and is into his second Masters 1000 quarter-final of the year after a successful run in Miami.
Now with Carlos Alcaraz in the crosshairs after his stunning win over Gael Monfils, Machac is not weathering expectations.
After being forced to retire at a set each at the Davis Cup a month ago, Machac is looking back to full fitness and brimming with confidence.
Tomas Machac hints at potential Carlos Alcaraz upset
The 23-year-old faced Alcaraz in Valencia in the Davis Cup qualifiers, however struggled to maintain his fitness level after winning the first set tie-break.
With Alcaraz later levelling up the match, Machac decided he could no longer continue and retired.
After a smart win over Paul, the Czech number one has explained why he fancies his chances this time around.
“I think I have a chance to beat him because I am playing fantastic tennis,” Machac told the Punto de break. I am looking forward to the match a lot, after the great level we both showed in our Davis Cup duel.
“It hurt not being able to finish that match. I think we are going to have fun,” Machac concluded, with ambitions to level their head-to-head series at 1-1.
Carlos Alcaraz is unfortunately looking unstoppable
After an admittedly patchy run in North America, with two defeats in three, including his early US Open exit, the jury was out on whether Alcaraz could recover in time for the Asian swing.
However, after Alcaraz picked up a record eight-points at the Laver Cup, before marching past world number one Jannik Sinner for the third time this year in Beijing, he is the man to beat in Shanghai.
Indeed, Alvarez is already eying a Sinner rematch, with the pair set to meet in the semi-final, unless of course Machac or the Italian’s opponent Daniil Medvedev.
Having pieced together 12 consecutive wins over all manner of opponents, Alcaraz is, unfortunately for Machac, not looking like slowing down.
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