SHANGHAI: Shanghai Masters top seed Carlos Alcaraz fought through what he called “one of the toughest matches this year” to make the tournament’s fina...
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz hits a return against Britain's Daniel Evans in their men's singles match during the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on October 9, 2023. AFPPIX: Shanghai Masters top seed Carlos Alcaraz fought through what he called “one of the toughest matches this year” to make the tournament’s final 16 on Monday, beating Britain’s Daniel Evans 7-6 , 6-4.
But over the course of prolonged and sometimes scrappy rallies that left spectators gasping and groaning, the world number two gradually assumed control, comprehensively winning the first-set tiebreaker. Alcaraz will next play Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who earlier overcame a torrential downpour and a well-matched opponent in Russian Karen Khachanov to win 7-6 , 6-4.Alcaraz, a two-time Grand Slam winner, is the favourite to take the title in the absence of world number one Novak Djokovic, and is hoping to use his time in China to close the gap on the Serbian at the top of the ATP rankings.
But as 34th-ranked Humbert drew ahead again in the third, Tsitsipas seemed to lose his cool, talking angrily to himself and hitting a ball high into the air in exasperation. Also through to the final 16 is fifth seed and world number seven Andrey Rublev, who took out Humbert's compatriot Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-0 in just an hour.
Wildcard Diego Schwartzman also booked a place in the fourth round, knocking out world number eight Taylor Fritz in a thrilling third-set tiebreaker on Monday.