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The World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz faced a challenging test but emerged victorious with a straight-set win of 7-6(1), 6-4 against Daniel Evans at the Shanghai Masters on Monday.
The Spaniard, who is playing in his first match in Shanghai, defeated Evans in a series of lung-busting exchanges to improve to 41-1 on the year against players outside the Top 20. He handled Evans' court craft with his own agility and strength. "It was a really tough match. It was one of the toughest matches I have played outside of the Grand Slams. Every time I play Daniel it is a tricky match and I have to play my best to beat him... Both of us played a high quality of tennis and I am really happy to get through," Alcaraz was quoted as saying by ATP. In the third-round match, Alcaraz frustrated Evans with his depth and precision and recovered from falling behind a break in the first set to take the lead. He made just two unforced errors in the second set to get to 4-0 in the ATP Head2Head series between the two players. The 20-year-old has cut Novak Djokovic's lead in the ATP Live Race to Turin to 500 points with his Tour-leading 63rd victory of the year. Alcaraz would surpass the Serbian to take the lead if he made it to the championship match. This week, Alcaraz aims to win his third ATP Masters 1000 title (Indian Wells, Madrid) and eighth tour-level championship of the year. The 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov will be his opponent after his two hours and 25 minutes against Evans. (ANI)
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