Alcaraz’s swinging parade. Who also remains in contention at the Masters in China? What about Lehecek’s match?

You won’t find a more valuable tournament in Asia. The only Masters tournament taking place on the world’s largest continent is now underway. What did tournament number one Alcaraz do to shine, and who’s next in the battle for the title?

With the exception of the Grand Slams, the Masters tournaments are the best you’ll see on the ATP circuit. Only one of them is held in Asia, specifically in Shanghai.

The number one seed in Shanghai, in the absence of Novak Djokovic, is Carlos Alcaraz. He had little trouble advancing in his first match at the event, beating Frenchman Barrere 6: 2, 7: 5.

After an hour and three quarters of play, the Spaniard got his first match point and converted it. It’s definitely worth watching the shot he landed in the last exchange of the match.

The other representatives of the top-seeded tennis players also performed convincingly. Greek Tsitsipas got past Australian Hijikata in 82 minutes. Similarly, neither Russia’s Medvedev nor Norway’s Ruud lost a set in their opening matches in Shanghai.

Italy’s Jannik Sinner, fresh from Beijing, also remains in the game. For the latter, an interesting duel with the vaunted 20-year-old American Shelton is looming soon.

The eliminated favourites

Unlike the aforementioned players, however, several highly seeded players have already said goodbye to the Masters in Shanghai. Denmark’s Rune continues his unconvincing performance after health problems. The tournament’s number three was not enough for the American Nakashima.

Germany’s Zverev and Australia’s De Minaur also retired early. Italian Musetti continues his poor performance in China and was outplayed by home team Yu Hsiou Hsu, who is only at the bottom of the second 100 in the ATP rankings.

Jiri Lehecka’s match

Lehecka’s match was postponed to Sunday after the delay of Saturday’s programme. He will be the favourite with Argentine Schwartzman. The only Czech tennis player in this tournament has picked up solid form since the Davis Cup, but his most notable performance on the hardwood remains the Winston Salem final.

But the form of his South American opponent is much worse. Schwartzman has won only one of his last five duels on hard court. This is the first time the two players have faced off.

And finally..

Djokovic’s participation is the only thing missing from the Masters in Shanghai. It will be interesting to see if there will be rematches between Medvedev and Alcaraz and Sinner. After the Beijing tournament, both Italians have something to give back.

Source: ATP, Twitter/X