Top-ranked Jannik Sinner surged into his fifth ATP Masters semifinal of the season, dominating fifth-ranked Daniil Medvedev in straight sets at the Shanghai Masters on Thursday.
Sinner started strong, facing just one break point in a commanding 6-1, 6-4 victory over the Russian, who required shoulder treatment from the physio during the second set.
"I'm very pleased with how I handled today’s match," Sinner said. "It seemed like he was dealing with some shoulder pain and couldn't hit his forehand as effectively as he wanted. I hope he recovers quickly, but from my perspective, it was a great match and a solid battle. Now, let’s see what I can do in the semifinals."
With Thursday's win, the two-time major winner has leveled his head-to-head series against Medvedev at 7-7 and has won seven of their last eight meetings.
The victory moved Sinner into his first semifinal in Shanghai, where he will play either second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, in a rematch of their thrilling duel from the China Open last week, or Tomas Machac, who plays later Thursday.
Coco Gauff advanced to the quarterfinals of the Wuhan Open with a 6-4, 6-1 rout of 17th-ranked Marta Kostyuk in just over an hour.
It was the fourth-ranked Gauff's eighth consecutive win on the WTA Tour's Asian swing after the American won the China Open last week, which moved her back into the top five in the rankings.
Gauff fired two aces and broke the Ukrainian's serve five times – while losing only one of her own – as she clinched a one-sided match and extended her lead in their head-to-head series to 3-1.
Next for Gauff is No. 45-ranked Magda Linette, who continued her impressive form this week by beating eighth-seeded Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-3.
"Yeah, she's a tough opponent," Gauff said of Linette. "We haven't played since the U.S. Open in 2021. I really don't know what to expect. But just from watching her play, she's been playing great these last couple of matches here in Wuhan.
"I expect it to be a tough match. She's not an easy opponent to play."
Gauff will be the only American left in the draw after third-ranked Jessica Pegula and tour rookie Hailey Baptiste both lost.
Pegula, the U.S. Open finalist, had a tough afternoon against 51st-ranked Wang Xinyu of China, who was dominant on serve throughout and clinched a 6-3, 7-5 win to reach her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal.
Wang had won their only previous meeting in three sets in the second round at Wimbledon earlier this year and got off to a fast start by breaking Pegula twice in the opening set.
After her first win over a top-10 player in the previous round, Baptiste was routed 6-1, 6-1 by Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Paris Olympics gold medalist Zheng Qinwen rallied to beat Leylah Fernandez 5-7, 6-3, 6-0, and sixth-ranked Jasmine Paolini defeated Erika Andreeva 6-3, 6-2.
Later, second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka looked to maintain her undefeated record at the Wuhan Open when she plays Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in her third-round match.
A win for the Belarusian will allow her to regain the top spot in the rankings from Iga Swiatek, who is absent from the women's tour's Asian swing, citing personal reasons and fatigue.
Sabalenka, the reigning U.S. Open champion, is 13-0 in Wuhan after winning the title on her first appearance in 2018 and defending her crown in 2019 before the tournament took a five-year hiatus due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.