Alcaraz cruises past Medvedev to reach China Open final

Carlos Alcaraz cruised through to the China Open final with a straight sets victory over Daniil Medvedev.

The world number three needed just 88 minutes to seal a 7-5 6-3 win.

It is Alcaraz's eighth successive victory since his shock second-round defeat by Botic van de Zandschulp at the US Open.

The four-time Grand Slam winner will play world number one and defending champion Jannik Sinner or Chinese wildcard Bu Yunchaokete for the title.

A tight first set saw the players fail to hold serve for four games in a row to leave it finely poised at 4-4.

Spaniard Alcaraz broke again in the 10th game before holding serve to take the first set in 48 minutes.

Medvedev needed two medical timeouts for treatment on his left leg as Alcaraz took control of the second set, sealing victory with his fourth match point.

"It was a little bit unusual, with serve being broken many times in the first set," said Alcaraz. "I don't know what happened to me. I probably lost focus a little bit.

"I'm really happy that I didn't lose my focus too long in the first set. I recovered it as soon as I got broken, and I'm really happy that at the end of the set I was able to play really good tennis."

Elsewhere, Britain's Dan Evans beat Alex Bolt of Australia 6-2 1-6 7-5 in the final round of qualifying for the Shanghai Masters.

Compatriot Jack Draper withdrew from the event - the highest-ranked regular tournament below the Grand Slams - on Monday because of an abdominal injury.