Rolex Shanghai Masters—Shanghai, China
Sinner, Alcaraz Reach Round of 16 in Shanghai; Gauff Wins Beijing Title
Sunday’s rain-plagued action at the Rolex Shanghai Masters featured top seed Jannik Sinner, No. 3 seed Carlos Alcaraz and No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedvev all advancing to the round of 16.
First up, Sinner needed two hours and 39 minutes to overcome the stiff challenge of No. 31 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry. Recording a 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2 scoreline, Sinner struck 40 winners, won 78 percent of his first serve points and broke serve on four occasions.
Improving to 2-0 against Etcheverry in lifetime meetings, Sinner will next face No. 14 seed Ben Shelton or Roberto Carballes Baena from Spain.
Elsewhere, No. 3 seed Alcaraz needed all of his firepower to overcome the onslaught of Chinese wildcard Yibing Wu.
Needing one hour and 40 minutes to prevail, Alcaraz notched a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over his No. 560 ranked opponent.
Wu, who has only played six events this year due to injury, is one of the most talented players on the circuit.
Alcaraz will next face either No. 14 seed Ugo Humbert or Gael Monfils.
The day’s other result included No. 5 seed Medvedev dismissing No. 29 seed Matteo Arnaldi 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 44 minutes. The Russian will next face No. 10 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexandre Muller.
No. 11 seed Tommy Paul will take on No. 19 seed Alejandro Tabilo in the day’s last match. The rest of Sunday’s matches were cancelled due to rain.
Monday’s action will feature No. 7 seed Taylor Fritz, No. 9 seed Grigor Dimitrov, No. 10 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 12 seed Holger Rune and No. 13 seed Frances Tiafoe.
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China Open—Beijing, China
No. 4 seed Coco Gauff won the biggest title of her season on Sunday in Beijing, China, defeating talented Czechia player Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-3.
Needing a mere one hour and 16 minutes to prevail, Gauff struck six aces, won 85 percent of her first serve points and broke serve on five occasions.
Improving to 3-0 against Muchova in lifetime meetings, Gauff now owns eight career titles.
Gauff will move up two places to No. 4 in the world on Monday.
Muchova, who recently made the semifinals of the US Open, will improve her ranking to No. 30 on Monday. The 28-year-old, all-court player is widely considered to be the best volleyer in the women’s game.
Both Gauff and Muchova will next see action at the 1000 level event in Wuhan, China next week.
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