Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters

SHANGHAI – Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz showed why they are the ones to beat at the Shanghai Masters on Oct 5, as they raced into the third round with confident straight-set wins.

Sinner dispatched Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-4, while earlier in the day Alcaraz made short work of China’s Shang Juncheng, winning 6-2, 6-2.

Sinner has said he is not in a “comfortable” situation because of a World Anti-Doping Agency appeal against a decision by tennis authorities to clear him of wrongdoing, after he twice tested positive for a steroid in March.

The world No. 1’s recent blistering winning streak was broken by Alcaraz in the China Open final on Oct 2.

But there was no tiredness on display from either player on Oct 5, with 23-year-old Sinner looking completely unruffled in the first set against the 93rd-ranked Daniel.

Daniel fell behind again in the second and despite rallying halfway through to gently test Sinner, the Italian kept his cool, ending the set 6-4.

“I had only one practice session yesterday but I felt very comfortable on the court,” he said after the match.

“Today’s performance means a lot to me.”

Sinner will face Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Oct 6.

“It will be a tough one tomorrow, very physical, because me and Tomas know each other quite well now,” he added.

Earlier, arch-rival Alcaraz also looked comfortable throughout, breaking in the first game.

Teenager Shang became only the second Chinese player to win an ATP Tour singles title at the Chengdu Open in September, but he was unable to make much headway against the world No. 2.

Despite their enthusiasm for Shang, the crowd could not resist Alcaraz’s charm.

At the Spaniard’s encouragement, they broke into loud cheers when he won a particularly exciting rally in which he hit a tricky backwards shot to keep the point alive.

“I’ve been playing really good tennis lately so I want to just keep going and keep feeling it, keep feeling this good,” the 21-year-old said after the match.

“I just had one practice then was straight into this match, so to be able to show this level in the first match, I’m just really proud.”

Alcaraz will next face another Chinese player, wildcard Wu Yibing, who beat 25th seed Nicolas Jarry in the second round.

The tournament lost its second top-10 player on Oct 5, as Andrey Rublev fell to 19-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik, joining Norwegian Casper Ruud on the notable casualties list.

The Russian, a finalist at the 2023 Shanghai Masters, roared in jubilation after winning a tiebreak to take the first set.

But 65th-ranked Mensik broke Rublev in the first game of the second set, and again in the fifth to draw even.

The Czech then came from behind in the third to beat the world No. 6 for the second time this year, with a final score of 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-3.

Novak Djokovic overcame a sluggish start to defeat American Alex Michelsen 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (11-9).

“It was the first match against Alex and I also hadn’t played in a while, so it took me a little time to get the rust off,” said Djokovic. 

Elsewhere, former US Open champion Coco Gauff fought back from a set down to beat Spain’s Paula Badosa 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing.

American Gauff will face Karolina Muchova in the final on Oct 6 after the Czech downed Paris Olympics gold medallist Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-4.

“It was just a tough match... I just tried to stay focused. Mentally I tried to reset. I got down a couple of times but I tried to bounce back,” Gauff said in her post-match interview.

“I had tough opponents the whole tournament. Happy to be in the final.” AFP, REUTERS