Carlos Alcaraz's exceptional touch at the net, alongside a slick new look, was on full display during his opening victory at the Shanghai Masters on Saturday. The world No 3, sporting a freshly trimmed moustache, delivered an aggressive performance to defeat Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3 6-3 and reach the third round of the ATP Masters 1000 event. Alcaraz repeatedly surged forward with purpose during their 66-minute encounter, showcasing his deft touch to extend his winning streak to seven matches following his successful title defence in Tokyo.
"It's going to stay for the week," Alcaraz confirmed when asked about his moustache. "I always wanted to step on court at least once with a moustache. "Before Tokyo with the team, we said, 'If I win the tournament, we all have to do the moustache and play Shanghai with it.' We're having fun with it.
It came to stay." Cerundolo, who stunned Jannik Sinner in five sets in the second round of Roland Garros this year, was seeking to become the first player to defeat both the Italian and Alcaraz in the same season since Andrey Rublev in 2024. However, Alcaraz stuck to his attacking game plan, using Shanghai's quick court conditions to unsettle his opponent and press forward at every opportunity. Daniil Medvedev won his first match since being disqualified at the China Open for hitting a spectator in the eye with a ball.
Medvedev beat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6 6-4 6-3 to reach the third round. Medvedev, who now holds a 10-2 career edge over Struff, was disqualified from the China Open during his semi-final against Novak Djokovic. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Medvedev, who apologised after the incident, saying it was an accident, lost the $285,000 prize money he would have received for making the semi-finals in Beijing.
In other early second-round matches Saturday, fourth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Camilo Ugo Carabelli 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-5. No 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew from Shanghai this week when he announced he was taking the rest of 2026 off due to a right knee injury. Mirra Andreeva earned her 50th match win of the season by beating Nikola Bartunkova 6-2 6-2 to reach the final of the China Open.
The French Open champion will face home favourite Qinwen Zheng for the title on Sunday, after the latter beat Elise Mertens 7-5 6-2. World No 5-ranked Andreeva is set to move up two spots in next week's rankings. The Russian player's 50th match win puts her level with Jessica Pegula for most on tour, according to the WTA.
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