{"id":11927,"date":"2023-10-07T22:30:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T22:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/medvedev-makes-strong-shanghai-masters-start-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-10-07T22:30:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T22:30:07","slug":"medvedev-makes-strong-shanghai-masters-start-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/medvedev-makes-strong-shanghai-masters-start-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Medvedev makes strong Shanghai Masters start | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nSHANGHAI:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Defending champion Daniil Medvedev<\/a> made a strong start to the Shanghai Masters on Saturday, with his main rival, top seed Carlos Alcaraz, due to launch his campaign later.<\/p>\n

The world number three beat Chile’s Cristian Garin in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 to proceed breezily to the third round.<\/p>\n

Garin put up a valiant fight, with several hard-fought rallies inducing gasps from the crowd, but ultimately the 98th-ranked player struggled with the Russian’s relentless pace.<\/p>\n

“(There’s a) long tournament ahead, with a lot of strong players, starting from my next match,” said Medvedev at the end.<\/p>\n

“But the goal for sure is to try and win this beautiful trophy one more time.”<\/p>\n

Medvedev won the 2019 title, but for the next three years the tournament was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

“I’m definitely happy to be back in Shanghai,” he said. “I honestly feel great and I want to stay here as long as possible.”<\/p>\n

Medvedev is popular with Chinese fans, a chemistry on display when the indoor match was interrupted briefly when a red-and-white butterfly distracted the Russian from serving.<\/p>\n

The crowd giggled as he played up his surprise for comic effect, before carefully handing over the insect, which had settled on one of his tennis balls, to great applause.<\/p>\n

Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is also through to the next round after a straightforward job dispatching Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-2.<\/p>\n

“In the beginning of a tournament, it takes some time to get the pace and rhythm of how things flow,” Tsitsipas said.<\/p>\n

“I was very confident and very sure of what I was doing and what I was following and it worked out pretty well.”<\/p>\n

World number two Alcaraz was also in action later, playing France’s Gregoire Barrere.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz <\/a>is looking to close the gap on the absent Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings with strong performances in China.<\/p>\n

But he was disappointed in Beijing by Italy’s Jannik Sinner, who defeated him in the semi-final before going on to beat Medvedev and take the China Open title.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n