Shanghai. Just days after his thrilling victory over Jannik Sinner in the Beijing final, Carlos Alcaraz continued his dominance at the Shanghai Masters with a comfortable 62, 62 victory over China's rising star Shang Juncheng in the second round.
Alcaraz, who is three years older than his 18yearold opponent, admitted that it felt unusual to face a player younger than him on the ATP Tour. After the match Alcaraz said, “I'm not used to playing against players younger than me. He's been playing good tennis recently, he won his first ATP (title in Chengdu), so I'm confident That he will go up in the rankings, I'm happy to be able to win matches like this.”
From the start, Alcaraz played brilliantly in front of the Shanghai crowd, opening the match by winning the first nine points and quickly breaking Shang's serve. The Spaniard's aggressive net play and powerful returns kept his opponent on the back foot throughout. Alcaraz converted four of seven break points and won all seven of her net approaches.
One of the highlights of the match came early in the second set when Alcaraz executed a brilliant backward flick and saved a point after being forced to serve back. He won that rally and saved his only break point in the match to maintain his 31 lead. Shang, who was clearly outmatched but in good spirits, only smiled after Alcaraz's blistering return, sealing another game for the third seed.
Despite the loss, Shang left the court with a memorable experience. Alcaraz said of his opponent, “At the net he told me it was a pleasure to share the court with you. Those kinds of things I hear from young players, it's awesome.”
Alcaraz, who has not lost a match since her surprise secondround exit at the US Open, will now face another Chinese star Wu Yibing in the third round.
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Image Credit: KhasKhabar.