Sinner avenges 2023 loss to Shelton in Shanghai Masters

Italian Jannik Sinner, the top seed, advanced to the last eight of the Shanghai Masters by winning against American Ben Shelton, the No 14 seed, 6-4, 7-6 (1) at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center on Wednesday.

It wasn’t a straight-forward outing for Sinner as Shelton produced commendable tennis from his racket, creating seven break points. The Italian, however, saved them all and managed to convert one himself to take the win in 90 minutes.

Both players fired seven aces each, with Shelton coming up with five more winners than Sinner’s 17. The American helped his opponent by committing a double fault and 10 unforced errors.

This was notably a rematch of the 2023 Shanghai last 16 between Sinner and Shelton, who prevailed 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) last year. The Italian now leads the head-to-head tally 4-1.

Sinner, ranked No 1, will face the winner of the match between Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 10 seed, and Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No 5 seed, next.

Ahead of his victory, the Italian beat Japanese Taro Daniel (6-1, 6-4) and Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry, the No 31 seed (6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2).

Shelton, ranked No 16, defeated Canadian qualifier Denis Shapovalov (6-3, 7-5) and Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena (6-3, 6-4) in the previous rounds of the Shanghai tournament.

Shanghai Masters 1000, other last 16 results (Qi Zhong Tennis Center, hard, USD 8.995.555, most recent results first):

• David Goffin vs. Alexander Zverev
• Taylor Fritz vs. Holger Rune
• Roman Safiullin vs. Novak Djokovic
• Jakub Mensik vs. Grigor Dimitrov
• Tommy Paul vs. Tomas Machac
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Gael Monfils
• Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Daniil Medvedev

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