Carlos Alcaraz is a heavy favourite to advance in Sunday's third-round match against Wu Yibing at the Shanghai Masters.
The Spaniard dropped only four games in his round-two success over Juncheng Shang and targets another triumph against a home player to book a fourth-round place.
Match preview
© Imago
If there were any doubts of a Beijing hangover, Alcaraz silenced those whispers with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 success over Shang.
It was the sensation's 13th Masters 1000 win of 2024 and 49th overall this season to avoid the potential banana peel in his tournament opener.
Returning to action on Sunday, the five-time Masters 1000 champion targets another victory against an opponent hoping to have the home crowd on his side against the world No. 2.
Alcaraz may have struggled to land first serves against Shang, underscored by making 50% of those on Saturday, but it did not prove costly as the four-time Grand Slam champion won 67% of second serve points and faced one break point in his round-two match.
While a stronger opponent could punish him on second serves, the 21-year-old may not have to worry about that against the Chinese player ranked 560th.
The former world No. 54 is the undoubted underdog heading into Sunday's match, but he enters the third-round encounter in fine form following two victories in straight sets.
Yibing defeated Sumit Nagal 6-3, 6-3 in his tournament opener before following that up by dropping just three games against 25th seed Nicolas Jarry, as he took full advantage of first serves — claiming 94% of points when he landed those against his Chilean opponent — to win 6-2, 6-1.
With the Chinese player notching two consecutive wins on his return to Shanghai after six years, his best run at the tournament already counts as a success before facing Alcaraz.
With observers anticipating a straightforward victory for the world No. 2, Yibing will play without fear and pressure in possibly the toughest test of the 24-year-old's career.
Tournament so far
Carlos Alcaraz:
First round: Bye
Second round: vs. Juncheng Shang 6-2 6-2
Wu Yibing:
First round: vs. Sumit Nagal 6-3 6-3
Second round: vs. Nicolas Jarry 6-2 6-1
Head To Head
Sunday's match-up will be the first encounter between both players on the ATP Tour, and Alcaraz is unsurprisingly the heavy favourite.
Yibing did stun Taylor Fritz in an ATP 250 event in Dallas last year en route to his only Tour-level success.
Regardless of the Chinese player's only top-10 victory against Fritz in February 2023, the world No. 560 is unlikely to record a second against a player expected to have a deep run in Shanghai.
We say: Alcaraz to win in two sets
While his front-foot style and inclination to go for even the most impossible shots leave him at the risk of shock defeats, a loss for Alcaraz against an in-form Yibing is not anticipated on Sunday.
Thus, we are backing the Spaniard for a straight-sets victory to continue his upswing after a post-Olympic Games dip.
Anthony Brown
