Shapovalov earns 200th ATP Tour win in 1st round of Shanghai Masters
Canadian teammate Diallo loses opening match, Auger-Aliassime opens play Thursday
Denis Shapovalov, of Richmond Hill, Ont., defeated Italian Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8) in the first round of the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday in China.
Shapovalov, 25, now holds a 2-1 career record against Sonego, ranked 50th in the world. The victory marked the Canadian's 200th career win on tour.
Shapovalov recorded two aces compared to three for Sonego and made three double faults, while Sonego had two.
Ranked 101st in the world, Shapovalov will face the tournament's 16th seed, American Ben Shelton, in the second round.
Meanwhile, Montreal's Gabriel Diallo fell 7-5, 7-6 (7) to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his opening match of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 18th seed, will play France's Alexandre Muller in the round of 64 on Thursday.
WATCH l Shapovalov improves career mark to 2-1 against Sonego:
In another match, French veteran Gael Monfils eased through to the second round with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur.
The 38-year-old Monfils will play the 22nd-seeded Argentine Sebastian Baez next.
Alcaraz rallies past Sinner to win China Open
Carlos Alcaraz won seven straight points in the decisive tiebreaker to beat top-ranked Jannik Sinner 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3) and win the China Open on Wednesday, extending his recent mastery over his biggest rival, who is dealing with an ongoing doping case.
The third-ranked Alcaraz has now won all three of his meetings with Sinner this year, having also come out on top in semifinals at Indian Wells and the French Open.
"He could [have won] in two, I could win in two, he could win in three. It was a really close match," Alcaraz said from Beijing "Jannik, once again, he showed that he's the best player in the world, at least for me. The level that he's playing, it's unbelievable. It's a really high quality of tennis. Of shots, physically, mentally, he's a beast."
Alcaraz ended Sinner's winning streak at 15 matches and denied the Italian three straight titles after trophies in Cincinnati and at the U.S. Open.
Sinner, who was the defending champion in Beijing, had to refocus after the World Anti-Doping Agency announced Saturday that it was appealing a decision to clear him of wrongdoing following two positive steroid tests.
Alcaraz produced 55 winners to Sinner's 30 but also had 52 unforced errors to his opponent's 31, a sign of their contrasting styles: Alcaraz's attacking game vs. Sinner's steady baseline approach.
Sinner and Alcaraz have accounted for all four Grand Slam titles this year between them — evenly split at two each: Sinner won the Australian Open and the U.S. Open while Alcaraz won the French Open and Wimbledon.
Alcaraz improved to 6-4 in his career against Sinner after their 10th meeting in what has become tennis' top rivalry following the 60 matches between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Sabalenka match win streak at 15
Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka matched her career-best of 15 straight wins after beating Madison Keys 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the women's tournament in Beijing.
The three-time Grand Slam winner started her streak with a title at Cincinnati in August and continued with a run to the championship at the U.S. Open last month. She also won the Australian Open earlier in the year. Her previous streak of 15 was achieved across the 2020-21 seasons.
The Belarusian has won 30 of 31 sets played during her current streak, dropping only one set to Ekaterina Alexandrova in the third round of the U.S. Open.
That form guide quickly played out again as Sabalenka broke the No. 24-ranked Keys in the third game of the first set and then dominated on serve throughout an efficient 65-minute outing, which improved her head-to-head record against the American to 4-1.
Sabalenka will play Karolina Muchova in the quarterfinals after the Czech player routed Cristina Bucsa 6-2, 6-0.
With files from The Associated Press
