Italy’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and his Spanish rival Carlos Alcaraz both won comfortably in the opening round of the Shanghai Masters. It was just three days after the dramatic China Open final.
Sinner, 23, bounced back from his loss to Alcaraz in Beijing to beat Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-4 at the ATP 1,000 event.
The No. 1 seed qualified for the third round in just 1 hour and 17 minutes, and No. 3 Alcaraz had an equally devastating display, defeating China’s Xiang Junchen 6-2, 6-2. When he won, he was on the court one minute shorter.
It was the 21-year-old’s 10th consecutive victory and his China Open title follows Team Europe’s victory at the Laver Cup in September.
“I’ve been playing really good tennis lately, so I’m just trying to maintain that,” said Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam champion who won four titles on the ATP Tour this year.
He will next face China’s world No. 560 Yibin Wu, with Sinner following Argentina’s 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 7-5 win over Botic van de Zandsschulp of the Netherlands. In the round, he will face 37th place Martin Etchbery. . The match lasted 3 hours and 43 minutes, making it the longest match in the history of the tournament.
Elsewhere, Russia’s sixth seed Andrei Rublev lost to Czech Jakub Menshik 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-3.
Four-time Shanghai Masters champion Novak Djokovic will face 20-year-old American Alex Michelsen later on Saturday as he seeks his 100th tour-level title.
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