Roberto Carballés Baena kills Fils on the way to 3R in Shanghai | ATP Tour

Shanghai

Carballés knocks down Fils on the way to 3R in Shanghai

It is his best mark in the ATP Masters 1000 this season

October 04, 2024

He had never gone as far in an ATP Masters 1000 on a hard court as he did in the Rolex Shanghai Masters. And Roberto Carballés Baena is in the best moment of his career, something that translates into results like the one he signed this Friday, where he appeared in the third round of Shanghai.

The Spaniard surprised Arthur Fils, seed No. 21 and recent champion at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships, 7-6(4), 7-6(5), in two hours and six minutes.

It is the second time in his career that Carballés Baena advances two rounds of the main four in an ATP Masters 1000. He did it in Rome 2023, where he beat Hugo Dellien and Daniel Evans before falling to Borna Coric, and in this edition of Shanghai, where he has already beaten his compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut and Fils himself.

The Andalusian took advantage of his opportunities to defeat the #NextGenATP Frenchman, who had barely had time to adapt to the Chinese hard court, after lifting his second ATP 500 title of the year last Tuesday in Tokyo.

Carballés Baena will face the No. 14 seed Ben Shelton in the third round, who had started this Friday’s day with a great performance against Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 7-5 in one hour and 17 minutes.

“I think he changed some things today,” Shelton warned of his opponent’s serve patterns and directions from the baseline. “I looked up some things and was surprised by some things he did on the court.”

“I’m trying to work on being a little calmer and more focused on the court,” added the world No. 17. “I think it’s important for my evolution, and the evolution of my game, that I continue to be able to stay focused for long periods of time and concentrate to play at a higher level for more than one set. “I think I did a great job today.”

For his part, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, also a Spaniard, was a few points away from being in the third round in Shanghai, but he saw how Tomas Machac was able to turn the match around 1-6, 7-6(3), 6- 4 in two hours and five minutes.

The Czech recovered from a start with doubts, in which Davidovich came to dominate 1-6, 1-3, but was able to equalize and win the tie-break of the second set. The Andalusian again opened a small gap on the scoreboard in the third set (0-3), however, Machac stayed six of the next seven games to get his ticket to the next round.

Machac now awaits Australian qualifier Aleksandar Vukic in the third round, who surprised No. 8 seed Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 18 minutes in the last match of the day.

Did you know that…?

Roberto Carballés Baena has surpassed the barrier of 20 wins in a single season for the first time in 2024 and is already one win away from reaching 25.