Carlos Alcaraz played his first-ever Shanghai Masters match, beating Gregoire Barrere in straight sets.
The young Spaniard already played in China this year, losing to Jannik Sinner in the 2023 China Open semifinals. Alcaraz talked a lot about his mentality after the loss, and he wanted to improve in Shanghai.
With his main rival Novak Djokovic on his mind, Alcaraz knew that he still has a chance to become world no. 1 at the end of the year, and a final run at the 2023 Shanghai Masters would give him a lead in the ATP Race.
Due to rainy weather in Shanghai, the match had to be played under a closed roof, conditions that his other rival, Jannik Sinner, managed to deal with shortly before. The 20-year-old had never met his second-round opponent before on the ATP Tour, and so the match was their first-ever meeting.
The first set was as dominant from the Spaniard as it could be, as he jumped out on a 4-0 lead with two breaks, while saving three break points in the progress. He had a chance to add one more break and "bagel" his opponent, but he didn't use his chance in the fifth game.
One game later, Barrere had three chances to break back, but once again, Alcaraz was the better player in the important rallies, and he closed out the first set without any major troubles, winning it 6-2.
But minor problems with closing out appeared again for the Spaniard in the second set. He broke his opponent's serve to lead 4-3, but he wasn't able to serve out the match. Barrere broke back, and the match was on.
Yet, Alcaraz added one more break, and this time, he confirmed it with a hold to win the match 6-2, 7-5 and advance to the third round of the 2023 Shanghai Masters. He will now play against either the 30th-seeded Daniel Evans or Mikhail Kukushkin.
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