Korda first-ever American to reach Shanghai semi-finals, defeats Shelton

No 26 seed Sebastian Korda moved into the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters by edging out No 19 seed Ben Shelton 6-7 (10), 6-2, 7-6 (6) at the Qi Zhong Stadium on Thursday.

Both men knew that the winner would become the first-ever American man to reach the semi-finals of the tournament.

Korda, ranked No 26, will face Pole Hubert Hurkacz, the No 16 seed, next, in what will be his first Masters 1000 semi-final.

He had reached one Masters 1000 quarter-final previously, but lost in Miami to Andrey Rublev back in 2021.

The 23-year-old is in impressive form – this is his third consecutive semi-final, having reached that point in Zhuhai and Astana (where he got through to the final) as well.

Ahead of his victory, Sebastian Korda won against Chinese wildcard Yunchaokete Bu (6-1, 6-4), Russian Daniil Medvedev, the second seed (7-6 (8), 6-2) and Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, the No 20 seed (7-5, 7-6 (6)).

Shelton, ranked No 20, defeated Spaniard Jaume Munar (6-4, 6-4), Russian Roman Safiullin (3-6, 6-3, 6-4) and Italian Jannik Sinner, the No 6 seed (2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5)) in the previous rounds of the Shanghai tournament.

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Tennis Majors

Shanghai Masters, other last eight results (Qi Zhong Stadium, hard, USD 8.800.000, most recent results first):

• Ugo Humbert vs. Andrey Rublev
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Nicolas Jarry
• Hubert Hurkacz beat Fabian Marozsan: 4-6, 6-1, 6-3