Shanghai, Three of the main favorites for the title at the Shanghai Masters 1000, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz (N.3), the Italian Jannik Sinner (N.1) and the Russian Daniil Medvedev (N.5) qualified this Sunday for the round of 16 at the end of this tournament.
Alcaraz only needed two sets and one hour and 40 minutes of play to beat the Chinese Wu Yibing 7-6 (7/5) and 6-3, unlike Sinner and Medvedev, who had to go to the third set and pass a hour more on the court to defeat, respectively, the Argentine Tomás Etcheverry (N.37) and the Italian Matteo Arnaldi (N.36).
Wu, a player who reached number 54 in the world just a year and a half ago, but since he retired due to injury in the second round of the 2023 US Open, he had barely played two matches, and without being able to finish them, but this Sunday he offered more resistance than expected.
Wu maintained his style in the first set, in which Alcaraz did not take advantage of the two break points he had and the fate of the first set was decided in the tie break, where the Spaniard used experience to score the set.
The unfavorable outcome could have led Wu to surrender, but the Chinese player maintained his resistance until the sixth game of the second set, when Alcaraz finally achieved the break and enough advantage to close the match.
His rival in the round of 16 will come from the duel between the French Gaël Monfils (N.46) and Ugo Humbert (N.15).
Etcheverry le gana a set al N.1
Sinner lost the first set against Etcheverry in the tie break, but won the next two, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 and 6-2, to close the pass to the round of 16, where they will be measured to the Spanish Roberto Carballés or the American Ben Shelton.
“Tomorrow (Monday) is a day of rest, which I really need, today I noticed it physically,” declared Sinner after the two hours and 40 minutes of battle against Etcheverry, who paid for his problems with the serve and the unforced errors committed ( 36 to 27).
Medvedev, who has not yet won a title this season, beat Arnaldi 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 and will play in the round of 16 against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas or the Frenchman Alexandre Müller.
The 28-year-old Russian received two unsportsmanlike fouls and a penalty point after a dispute with the chair umpire, but managed to focus on his game to turn the score around against a young rival (23 years old) whom he had beaten in the four occasions in which they had faced each other before.
“I have the feeling that I was probably better in the first set. The other two sets were more even, and he may even have been a little better, but that’s why tennis is a crazy sport, you can win when you don’t expect it and lose when you expect to win,” the Russian explained after the match.
As he already did after his debut in Shanghai, Medvedev again criticized the balls used in this tournament, which “favor those who can generate power from ‘dead’ balls”, that is, players like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, although he specified that these “are the best players in the world and will continue to be with other balls.”
In the last match of the day, the American Tommy Paul (13th) eliminated the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo (23rd).
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