Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek Both Through At China Open

Carlos Alcaraz sealed a spot in the men's semi-finals of the China Open with a straight-sets victory over Norway's Casper Ruud in Beijing on Monday. The world number two triumphed 6-4, 6-2 to set up a semi-final clash with either Jannik Sinner or Grigor Dimitrov. Alcaraz shook off an early break of serve to overpower the world number nine, eventually seizing an attritional first set with a 40-0 service game. He then took control, breaking twice without reply in set two before finally forcing Ruud to slice a backhand into the net. "To be able to win these kinds of matches the way I did gives you extra confidence in your game," Alcaraz said at a post-match news conference.

"It was a really tough match and I had to find solutions... I had to increase my level but we had really good battles, good rallies."

Third-ranked Daniil Medvedev booked his place in the semi-finals with an earlier 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 victory over France's Ugo Humbert.

An error-strewn first set saw a combined five breaks of serve but Medvedev edged ahead in the ninth game and finished it off with an ace.

Both men were more consistent in set two until the Russian, at deuce, hit back-to-back double faults to hand the crucial break to Humbert.

Medvedev finally tightened up in the decider, notching two quickfire breaks before seeing out the match on his serve.

The 27-year-old will battle it out with Germany's Alexander Zverev for a place in the final.

Medvedev again attributed the see-saw victory to the match balls, which he has said fluff up too quickly and can lead to lengthy rallies.

"(On) any other normal hard court with normal balls, no chance I win the match like this. No chance I would lose my serve so much," he said.

Zverev, ranked number 10, edged a tight