- Evans advances after Kukushkin retires
- Alcaraz eases past Barrere
- Korda beats defending champion Medvedev
Dan Evans of Britain secured a spot in the last 32 of the Shanghai Masters after his opponent, Kazakhstan’s qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin, retired when Evans was leading 6-2, 3-0. The match had been postponed from Saturday due to heavy rain. Evans will face World number two Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz prevails in rain affected match
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz, despite weather-related interruptions, successfully progressed to the third round. The Spaniard’s match against Gregoire Barrere of France was moved indoors due to rain, but Alcaraz dominated with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over the world number 73.
Meanwhile, Evans’ compatriot Cameron Norrie, seeded 15th, faced a tough battle against American JJ Wolf. Norrie initially trailed 3-6, but made a comeback to lead 7-5, 3-2 with a break before rain forced a suspension of play. When the match resumed on Sunday, Norrie served for the victory at 5-4, but was ultimately broken by the world number 51. Wolf managed to force a tie-break and ultimately clinched the victory 7-4, securing his spot in the last 32.
Defending champion and US Open runner-up, Daniil Medvedev, experienced a surprising defeat, losing 7-6 (10-8), 6-2 to American player Sebastian Korda.
Betting Implications
With Medvedev going out, Alcaraz’s position as tournament favourite is strengthened. He is a strong favourite to prevail against Evans. At the time of writing SpreadEx have Alcaraz at 1/14 to overcome Evans with the Briton at 13/2.
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