Canadian tennis players had a successful run in the Shanghai Masters men’s tennis tournament on Saturday, advancing to the third round with ease. Felix Auger-Aliassime, hailing from Montreal and seeded 12th, secured a victory over Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo with a scoreline of 6-3, 6-3. Similarly, Denis Shapovalov, representing Richmond Hill, Ont., and seeded 23rd, triumphed in straight sets against Australia’s Christopher O’Connell with a score of 6-3, 6-2.
Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov are set to compete in their next matches on Monday, facing off against Jesper De Jong from the Netherlands and Jiri Lehecka from the Czech Republic, respectively. Another Canadian player, Gabriel Diallo, is scheduled to play against David Goffin from Belgium in the upcoming third-round match on Sunday.
In a separate match on Saturday, Jannik Sinner began his Shanghai Masters title defense impressively by defeating Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-3, seeking redemption for a previous loss at the French Open two years ago. This win marked Sinner’s sixth consecutive victory since claiming the China Open title in Beijing just a few days earlier.
Reflecting on his performance, Sinner acknowledged the challenges posed by the tournament’s conditions, emphasizing the need to adapt quickly. He expressed his focus on maintaining physical readiness for the upcoming matches, highlighting the shift in climate and its impact on gameplay from Beijing to Shanghai. Sinner is now gearing up to face Tallon Griekspoor in the third round, holding a 6-0 lead in their career head-to-head matchups.
Unfortunately, top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz had to withdraw from the Shanghai tournament due to a left ankle injury. Meanwhile, seventh-seeded Alex de Minaur secured a spot in the next round with a solid 6-4, 6-2 victory over Camilo Ugo Carabelli after a previous defeat to Sinner in the Beijing semifinals.
