Sinner survives Etcheverry test at Shanghai Masters
World number one Jannik Sinner recovers from a set down to beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the third round of the Shanghai Masters.
World number one Jannik Sinner recovers from a set down to beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the third round of the Shanghai Masters.
Daniil Medvedev dug deep on Sunday to maintain his bid for a first title of 2024 at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
The No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings rallied to a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Matteo Arnaldi to book his fourth-round spot at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Medvedev held firm to prevail after two hours and 44 minutes in an absorbing encounter full of extended rallies.
“It was a very tough match, a very close one,” said Medvedev. “I actually felt like that’s where tennis is funny. I felt like in the first set, I was probably the better player, had more opportunities. I didn’t manage to [win] it, played a bad game at the end of the set.
“In the other sets, I thought it was closer. Maybe even he had the edge on some of the moments, but that’s why tennis is crazy. You can win when you don’t expect it, and lose when you expect to win, so I’m happy to be here again in two days.”
A Shanghai special from @DaniilMedwed 🤩@SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/djdos1P40E
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 6, 2024
Medvedev will take on 10th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexandre Muller next in Shanghai, where he is chasing his first tour-level title since his Rome victory in May 2023. The 28-year-old is also looking to take further steps towards Nitto ATP Finals qualification in China. He is currently fourth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and in a strong position to seal his spot at the prestigious season finale for the sixth consecutive year.
Competing under the roof inside Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena due to rain, Medvedev broke Arnaldi’s serve in the opening game of the match but was unable to maintain that momentum in the early stages. The Italian won six of eight games from 1-3 to clinch the opening set as he made a positive start in his bid for a first fourth-round appearance in Shanghai.
Yet in trademark fashion, Medvedev found a way to grind out a victory with the help of some improved serving and a decisive, clinical return game in the ninth game of the deciding set. He capitalised on some late nerves from Arnaldi on serve to move 5-4 ahead before closing out the victory to improve to 4-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
Medvedev finished the match having won four of 12 break points he earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats. He is now 9-3 in Shanghai, where he is aiming to win the same tour-level title twice for the first time in his career.
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Play at the Rolex Shanghai Masters has been suspended for a second successive day due to rain. There is currently no play to begin on the outside courts until at least 2 p.m. local time (CST) at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
With a retractable roof on Stadium Court, Daniil Medvedev and Matteo Arnaldi’s second-round clash will continue as the pair head into a deciding set. It is the sole match that has been contested on Sunday in Shanghai, though three are scheduled to follow under the roof.
[ATP APP]Jannik Sinner is set to take to the court against Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry, and Carlos Alcaraz will battle home hope Wu Yibing for a place in the third round. Eleventh seed Tommy Paul will then conclude Sunday’s play on Stadium Court when he takes on Alejandro Tabilo in a bid to extend his 1-0 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
Taylor Fritz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Holger Rune are among the stars waiting to get underway on the outside courts once the rain has stopped.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Alexander Zverev began his 2024 Rolex Shanghai Masters campaign with a successful start, wrapping up the star-studded lineup on Stadium Court after Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Novak Djokovic also won their matches.
The German registered a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting to advance to the third round on Saturday.
[ATP APP]“He is actually a very good player. He surprised me a lot for his size. His serve is incredible. He gets quite a lot of speed on that, and from [the] baseline he is very, very aggressive,” Zverev said after the match.
After withdrawing from the China Open due to pneumonia last week, the 27-year-old notched his first victory in Shanghai since 2019 in one hour and 36 minutes.
“I didn’t practise, I didn’t do anything really. So, of course, I am happy with the level,” admitting there was uncertainty leading up to the tournament due to illness.
Last year in Shanghai, Zverev lost to Roman Safiullin in straight sets in his opening match.
The No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will face either Jordan Thompson or Tallon Griekspoor in the third round.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Novak Djokovic began his quest for a 100th title Saturday after overcoming a sluggish start to defeat Alex Michelsen 7-6(3), 7-6(9) in a pulsating second-round clash at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
Returning to China’s business and finance hub for the first time in five years, and playing just his second match since the US Open, 37-year-old Djokovic was thoroughly tested by the #NextGenATP American, who held two set points in the deciding tie-break.
“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, who boasts a record 35 match wins in Shanghai. “He started off terrifically; big serves and an aggressive style of tennis… he’s not afraid to step it up and take it to his opponent.
“It was a very close encounter and I thought a high level of tennis in both sets. I’m just glad to keep calm when it mattered in the second-set tie-break.”
[ATP APP]Still wearing a protective sleeve over his right knee, on which he had meniscus surgery, Djokovic will next play the winner of 28th-seeded Flavio Cobolli or longtime rival Stan Wawrinka.
Djokovic won just four points in the first three games against the #NextGenATP American, who raced to a 4-1 lead in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash.
Putting 16 of his first 18 first serves into play and frequently moving to net, a confident Michelsen played with aggressive intent and appeared comfortable in baseline exchanges with the four-time Shanghai champion. But when the 20-year-old struggled to put his first serve into play in the seventh game, Djokovic broke back and ultimately took the set when he won his 11th tie-break from 15 played this season.
Like Michelsen in the opener, Djokovic led 4-1 in the second only to allow his opponent back onto even terms at 4-all. But the Serbian held his nerve in the decisive tie-break after saving set points at 7/8 and 8/9 to close out the win after one hour and 55 minutes.
“I was 4-1 up, 15/40 and he hit the let-cord that went over. It could easily have been 6-1 for me in the second,” Djokovic said. “But at this level, things can change very quickly.
“I’m glad to really be challenged by a young player and I’m looking forward to the next one.”
In a high-quality match, Djokovic hit 34 winners to 23 unforced errors, with Michelsen notching 30 winners to 19 unforced errors according to Infosys ATP Stats.
Novak Djokovic, you have got to be kidding 🤯@DjokerNole | @SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/u2mJE0RrUY
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 5, 2024
Djokovic is the only player in history (since 1990) to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles, a feat he has achieved twice en route to his record haul of 40 titles at this level. He is yet to reach a final in the series this year.
Djokovic last year won Masters 1000 titles in Cincinnati and Paris, and collected a record eighth Nitto ATP Finals crown. But in 2024 he has won just one title, the Paris Olympics, as his semmingly inevitable march towards 100 career titles has been delayed.
Improving to 33-8 on the season, Djokovic was playing just his second match since a third-round loss to Alexei Popyrin at the US Open. The victory saw Djokovic overtake the injured Alex de Minaur in eighth place in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin and move inside the cut for the Nitto ATP Finals (10-17 November).
Michelsen, who is third in the PIF ATP Live Race to Jeddah, is at a career-high ranking of 43 after last week reaching the Tokyo quarter-finals, where he upset Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round after qualifying.
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Fourth seed Coco Gauff comes from a set and a break down to beat Paula Badosa and reach her first China Open final.
Novak Djokovic wins on ATP Tour return to join Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in the third round of the Shanghai Masters.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner became the first player to reach 60 wins on the season Saturday when he defeated Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-4 in his Rolex Shanghai Masters opener.
Adding to an already spectacular season, Sinner also became the first player born in the 2000s to reach 250 wins as he remains on track to surpass his record 64 wins last season, which stands as the most by an Italian man in the Open Era.
“I felt quite comfortable today,” said the 23-year-old, fresh off his Beijing final run. “I feel in good shape also physically, which is very important for me. Of course I will try to improve for tomorrow’s performance, but today I was serving really, really well, especially in important moments, and was moving well.”
Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index Leaders (2024)
| Player | W/L | Titles |
| Jannik Sinner | 60-6 | 6 |
| Alexander Zverev* | 57-18 | 1 |
| Carlos Alcaraz | 49-9 | 4 |
| Casper Ruud | 48-19 | 2 |
| Taylor Fritz* | 45-19 | 2 |
*still to play Saturday
Sinner is now 14-0 in opening-round matches this year and has reached the quarter-finals in all 13 tournaments played in 2024. He is 51-0 against players outside the Top 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings since losing to No. 66 Serbian Dusan Lajovic in Cincinnati last year.
Safety first ⛑️@janniksin | @SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/AAYDH6IbOe
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 5, 2024
The Italian will next meet 31st seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the third round. He could face a Shanghai rematch with 14th seed Ben Shelton beyond that, one year after the American knocked him out of the ATP Masters 1000 in what was their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Three days after beating Jannik Sinner in a three-set epic to claim the Beijing title, Carlos Alcaraz picked up where he left off Saturday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. The Spaniard earned his 10th consecutive win with a 6-2, 6-2 result against Chinese #NextGenATP star Shang Juncheng.
“I’m not used to playing against players younger than me,” said the 21-year-old Alcaraz, two years Shang’s elder. “He has been playing good tennis lately, lifting his first ATP [title in Chengdu], so I’m pretty sure he’s going to climb the rankings. I’m just happy to to be able to win these kinds of matches.
“At the net he told me that it’s a pleasure share the court with you. So these kinds of things that I hear from [younger players], it’s great.”
[ATP APP]Always eager to put on a show, Alcaraz drew gasps from the Shanghai crowd on the third point of the match when he followed a daring net approach with great anticipation and soft hands to bring up 0-40 in the opening game. The Spaniard won the first nine points on the stadium court and never looked back, winning four of seven break points and all seven of his net points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
Welcome to the @carlosalcaraz show 🤩@SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/PZtEpXoPPX
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 5, 2024
The moment of the match came early in set two, when a backtracking Alcaraz pulled off a backward flick to rescue a point. Alcaraz escaped to win that lengthy exchange, then wriggled out of trouble on the scoreboard by saving his lone break point to lead 3-1. As he closed in on the victory, a booming return drew a laugh from the overmatched Shang, who was bidding to become the first Chinese man to beat a Top 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings.
Alcaraz will meet another Chinese star in the Shanghai third round, when he opens his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Wu Yibing. The third seed has not lost since his shock second-round defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp at the US Open. Having played just three matches on the North American hard-court swing across Cincinnati and New York, the Spaniard said he is feeling fresh for the home stretch of the ATP Tour season.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Fifth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig registered a comfortable 6-4, 6-3 win over Pedro Martinez and Pablo Carreno Busta to advance to the second round at the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Friday.
After crashing in the opening round at the China Open last week, The Indo-Croatian duo raced to victory in one hour and three minutes on Court 6 in their first win as partners this year.
The pair dropped serve once, fired five aces, and saved four break points against their Spanish opponents. They also converted three break points.
They are set to face Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic or #NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils and Ben Shelton in the next round.
[ATP APP]Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev stunned seventh seeds Neal Skupski and Michael Venus 7-5, 7-5 in one hour and 25 minutes in the first match on Court 7.
In the following match, Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin raced to a quick 6-2, 6-2 win against Alexander Bublik and Frances Tiafoe. The pair made 90 per cent of first serves and saved one break point to seal the match in 49 minutes.
Eighth seeds Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram were tested by Brazilians Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo. After losing the first set, the Americans staged a comeback and won 4-6, 6-3, 14-12 in one hour and 24 minutes. They will next face Gonzalez & Roger-Vasselin.
Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni were also pushed to three sets by Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski. The Argentines won 7-6(4), 4-6, 10-6 in one hour and 52 minutes.
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