Alcaraz wins against Evans in Shanghai one of the "toughest matches of the year"
The number two in world tennis, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, progressed this Monday to the round of 16 of the Shanghai Masters after beating the British Daniel Evans in two sets, 7-6 (1) and 6-4.
The match was settled in 2 hours and 23 minutes, and offered some points of true spectacle that were rightly recognized with thunderous applause by the public on the main court of the Qizhong sports center.
Specifically, in the fifth game of the first set, Evans ended up crashing into the net after brilliantly saving an equally meritorious drop shot from Alcaraz to avoid the Spaniard's advantage.. Until that moment, the Englishman had saved eight breaking points, putting himself ahead 1-4.
Alcaraz, although he missed some theoretically easy shots, little by little he found his tennis to force a 'tie break' in which he was imperial – Evans only managed one point – and took the first set.
In the second set, Evans, 33rd in the world ranking, put Alcaraz in trouble again by going 4-4, but the Spaniard did not hesitate and closed his victory to the rest with a great setback.
Alcaraz and Evans had already faced each other three times, all of them with favorable results for the Spaniard, the last one at the United States Open (6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3) last September. .
After passing this phase, the top seed in Shanghai will have to face the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the next round, ranked 19th in the world rankings, after he beat the Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6 (6) and 6-4.
hard test
The Spaniard assured that this Monday's match against the British Daniel Evans was “one of the hardest” he has played this year: “I think (the key) was being there mentally strong. I have had many opportunities, of which I have not taken advantage of almost any. The easy thing there would have been to go down a little (…), and the key has been to wait for opportunities, to know that I was going to have more,” said the world tennis number two.
Asked about the trouble that Evans put him in – whom he had already faced three times, all of them with victory for the Spaniard -, Alcaraz pointed out: “He has been more aggressive than in the other games. “It was one of the hardest games I've played this year.”
Specifically, when referring to his last victory against the Englishman (at the US Open in September), he said that the conditions in Shanghai “are different”. “It's slower than the US Open, I've had to adapt my game a little bit,” he explained.
Regarding his rival in the round of 16, the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (19th in the ranking), the tournament's top seed assured that he is a “very talented” player.. “I will try to be focused all the time and not let him dominate the game. “He feels comfortable if the game goes his way, so I will try to put pressure on him,” he commented.
The Russian Daniil Medvedev, current champion of the competition but already eliminated this year, pointed out Alcaraz and the Italian Jannik Sinner as great candidates to win the title, something about which the Murcian said: “(Seeing) the level we are showing Jannik and I, it doesn't surprise me that the players can put us as favorites (…), but this is tennis, anything can happen.”