(Beijing) Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime will not last long at the Shanghai Masters.
Auger-Aliassime, 14th seed in the tournament, was shown the exit door by Martin Fucsovics in three sets of 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3, Friday, in the second round.
Auger-Aliassime is not the only seed to have struggled in Shanghai.
Holger Rune (No. 3) notably received a 6-0, 6-2 correction from Brendon Nakashima, 122nd in the world.
The 22-year-old American converted five of his 14 break points to claim a victory against a top 10 player. Nakashima will now face local favorite Zhang Zhizhen, who got the better of Tomas Martin Etcheverry 4-6, 6-3 . 6-4.
Roman Safiullin defeated Alexander Zverev (No. 9) 6-3, 6-1 in a rematch of the Chengdu Open final last week. Zverev had won it.
Alex de Minaur (No. 11) lost 6-3, 7-5 to Fabian Marozsan and Lorenzo Musetti (No. 17) lost to qualifier Hsu Yu Hsiou in two sets of 6-4, 6-4. Dusan Lajovic was leading No. 23 Tallon Griekspoor 6-4, 3-2 when the Dutchman retired from the match.
Casper Ruud (No. 8) is one of the few seeds who has found a way to advance in the tournament. He defeated Yoshihito Nishioka 7-5, 6-0. The Norwegian will now meet Christopher Eubanks (no. 29), who came from behind to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the expense of Yannick Hanfmann.
No. 20 Francisco Cerundolo advanced to the next round with a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) victory over Mackenzie McDonald.
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz and No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev will play their second-round match on Saturday.
Poland’s Iga Swiatek defeated Caroline Garcia in three sets of 6-7 (8), 7-6 (5), 6-1 to reach the semi-finals of the China Open.
Garcia, seeded ninth, won the first set, but Swiatek (No. 2) took a 4-1 lead before seeing the Frenchwoman climb back to 6-5.
With Swiatek serving for the match, Garcia came within two points of securing a straight-sets victory. The Pole, however, earned two huge points to force a tiebreaker, which she eventually won.
Swaitek then used his power in the third set to advance to the semifinals of a tournament for the 11th time this season.
“It was definitely very intense,” Swiatek said. We played very quickly. Sometimes there was no time to think or analyze. I’m glad I used my intuition. During the first two sets, every ball counted. I was able to go more freely in the third round. »
American Coco Gauff (No. 3) extended her winning streak to 16, beating Greek Maria Sakkari (No. 6) 6-2, 6-4 and setting the table for a duel against Swiatek.
This will be the seventh semi-final of the year for the 19-year-old, who has been undefeated since her quarter-final loss to Jessica Pegula in Montreal.
Liudmila Samsonova continued her impressive run by triumphing 6-3, 6-2 at the expense of Jelena Ostapenko (No. 13).
Later Friday, favorite Aryna Sabalenka lost to Elena Rybakina (No. 5) in two sets of 7-5. 6-2.
This was a third duel between the two players this year. They had divided the honors of two finals, including that at the United States Open, won by Sabalenka.
