Alcaraz Continues Shanghai Title Quest, Fends Off Evans

Carlos Alcaraz overcame a tricky test from Daniel Evans on Monday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, advancing 7-6(1), 6-4 to boost his ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone chances.

The Spaniard, who is making his debut in Shanghai, handled Evans’ court-craft with his own agility and power, prevailing in a series of lung-busting exchanges to improve to 41-1 on the year against players ranked outside the Top 20.

Alcaraz frustrated Evans with his depth and accuracy in the third-round clash and rallied from a break down in the first set to lead. He then committed just two unforced errors in the second set to improve to 4-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“It was a really tough match. It was one of the toughest matches I have played outside of the Grand Slams,” Alcaraz said. “Every time I play Daniel it is a tricky match and I have to play my best to beat him… Both of us played a high quality of tennis and I am really happy to get through.”

With his Tour-leading 63rd win of the season, the 20-year-old has closed the gap on Novak Djokovic to 500 points in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. If Alcaraz reaches the title match he will leapfrog the Serbian into first place.

Alcaraz is seeking his seventh tour-level title of the season this week and third at ATP Masters 1000 level (Indian Wells, Madrid). He will next play 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov following his two-hour, 25-minute win against Evans.

In an entertaining battle that featured a series of cat-and-mouse points, Alcaraz was impressive at the net against Evans, winning 67 per cent (22/33) of points when moving forward.