Top seed Sinner battles past Etcheverry to reach last 16 in Shanghai

World No 1 Jannik Sinner was made to work hard by Tomas Martin Etcheverry, the No 31 seed, as he claimed a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 victory to advance to the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center on Sunday.

Top seed Sinner will play the winner of the match between Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena and American Ben Shelton, the No 14 seed, next. The Italian has made the quarter-finals or better at each of the Masters 1000 events he has played in 2024.

“It was a tough first set,” Sinner said. “I had a lot of chances, 15-40 on his serve at 6-5, but he played a very great tiebreak. I had to accept it, start from zero and go again.

Sinner took only four of his 13 break point opportunities but said patience was crucial. “Sometimes you have to wait for your chances, which I’ve done,” he said. “I tried to stay calm mentally and that was the key.”

In the previous round of the Shanghai tournament, the Italian defeated Japanese Taro Daniel (6-1, 6-4).

Etcheverry, ranked No 37, edged out Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp (7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5) in the second round of the Shanghai tournament.

Shanghai Masters 1000, other third-round results (Qi Zhong Tennis Center, hard, USD 8.995.555, most recent results first):

• Jakub Mensik vs. Alexander Shevchenko
• Tomas Machac vs. Aleksandar Vukic
• Gael Monfils vs. Ugo Humbert
• Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Alexandre Muller
• Roberto Carballes Baena vs. Ben Shelton
• Tommy Paul vs. Alejandro Tabilo
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Yibing Wu
• Daniil Medvedev (5) beat Matteo Arnaldi (29): 5-7, 6-4, 6-4