SHANGHAI – Jannik Sinner got revenge on Ben Shelton in the fourth round of last year’s Shanghai Masters with a 6-4, 7-6(1) win, ruining the 22-year-old American’s birthday on Wednesday.
Like last year, the duel featured incredible shot-making and serve dominance, but this time the 23-year-old Italian emerged victorious, improving his record against Shelton to 4-1.
“I’m happy with how I handled the situation. I’m glad to be in the position I’m in because the position I was in last year is different than the position I’m in now,” Sinner said.
Sinner’s break in the ninth game was all that separated the duo in the opening set. Both players then dominated their serves until the second, before the Italian slowed the pace in the tiebreak and won the final seven points of the match to advance to his seventh ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal of the year.
He will face fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, who beat longtime rival Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(3), 6-3. After receiving a violation call, he initially refused to continue play.
In a similar incident the day before, Francis Tiafoe repeatedly swore at the referee after losing his third round match and later apologized.
Second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, who won the China Open in a thriller against Sinner last week, advanced to the quarterfinals with his 12th straight win, beating French veteran Gael Monfils 6-4, 7-5.
Alcaraz needed all of his shot-making ability to overpower the 38-year-old Monfils. The 21-year-old Spaniard won 22 and took a break in each set to finish the match in 87 minutes.
The French Open and Wimbledon champion will face Thomas Machak in the quarterfinals.
Four-time champion Novak Djokovic continued his quest for his 100th career title by defeating No. 61 Roman Safiulin 6-3, 6-2, but No. 3 Alexander Zverev lost 6-4, 7-5 to David Goffin. . Belgium.
Goffin, 33, will face seventh seed Taylor Fritz for a spot in the semifinals. Fritz defeated Denmark’s Holger Rune 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.
