WATCH: Dan Evans and Carlos Alcaraz entertain Shanghai crowd with ridiculous rally
Dan Evans and Carlos Alcaraz have only gone and done it again as they conjured up some magic during their third-round encounter at the Shanghai Masters on Monday.
It is the second time in the space of a couple of weeks that Evans and Alcaraz have entertained tennis fans as they also put on a brilliant show during their third-round encounter at the US Open in September, leaving many fans on the feet with some of their lung-busting points.
The pair’s latest incredible rally took place late in the opening set of their ATP Masters 1000 encounter with Evans looking to save a break point. Things got interesting when a return from the British No 2 clipped the net and Alcaraz had to pull off an over-the-shoulder return at one point.
But Evans won the battle with a brilliant backhand shot down the line.
Although the world 33 won that rally it was Alcaraz who won the match as the Spaniard won the tie-breaker before a late break in the second set earned him the win.
“It was a really tough match. It was one of the toughest matches I have played outside of the Grand Slams,” the Spaniard said.
“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.”
World No 2 Alcaraz has now won all four of his top-level matches against Evans while Monday’s win was his 63rd of the 2023 season. The win also helped him to reduce the gap to Novak Djokovic in the Live ATP Race to Turin to just 500 points. If he reached the final then he will usurp the 24-time Grand Slam winner from top spot.
The 20-year-old he will face Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-final after the 18th seed defeated Karen Khachanov 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.
There were some big upsets in the third round as Diego Schwartzman stunned seventh seed Taylor Fritz in three sets – dealing a big blow to the American’s hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals while fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas also went down in three sets against Ugo Humbert.
“I think since Roland Garros my tennis was changing. I was winning at least one match in every single tournament,” Schwartzman said. “Obviously this is not my year, so that is why that at the end of the year to have these kinds of tournaments is great. Not many tournaments to come, but it is going to make a difference.
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