Roberto Carballés Baena resists Roberto Bautista Agut in Shanghai | ATP Tour

Shanghai

Carballés resists Bautista in Shanghai

The Spaniard will face the emerging Fils in the second round

October 02, 2024

Roberto Carballés Baena debuted with a smile at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, beating his compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 this Wednesday in a first round with no secrets on the court. The Andalusian added his first victory in the Chinese ATP Masters 1000 to place another merit on the Asian tour.

The No. 54 in the PIF ATP Rankings reached the quarterfinals weeks ago in the inaugural edition of the Hangzhou Open before putting in the work at the ATP 500 in Beijing, where he added three matches after being re-elected as a lucky loser in the main draw.

The Spaniard, ATP Tour finalist (Casablanca) and double ATP Challenger Tour champion (Braunschweig, Seville) this season on clay, seeks to continue honing his maturity on hard surfaces. With a balance of 8-7 on this type of tracks in the 2024 season, Carballés continues to chart a path of progress on the predominant stage of the circuit.

Now, Granada will need to maintain the intensity in a tournament of permanent obstacles. In the second round in Shanghai, an unprecedented duel awaits him against #NextGenATP Arthur Fils, recent champion in Tokyo and current No. 1 in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah.

In one of the most notable first rounds of the main draw, Botic van de Zandschulp beat Pablo Carreño Busta 7-6(5), 6-2 after one hour and 42 minutes of play. The Dutchman, who surprised Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open, continues to score important victories and will face No. 31 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the second round.

The local prominence fell into the hands of Wu Yibing, who achieved his first victory in a main draw in Shanghai, beating Indian Sumit Nadal 6-3, 6-3. After breaking his ATP Tour wins tally in 2024, Wu will face No. 25 seed Nicolás Jarry in the next round.

Wednesday brought a bunch of wins for French tennis in Shanghai, with positive debuts from Arthur Rinderknech (6-4, 7-6(5) against Reilly Opelka), Alexandre Muller (4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to Luca Nardi), Arthur Cazaux (6-4, 6-4 to Marin Cilic) and Gael Monfils (6-4, 6-4 to Damir Dzumhur).

In addition, Denis Shapovalov reached 200 victories on the circuit after beating Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(5), 7-6(8) in one of the closest matches of the day. The Canadian will meet No. 14 seed Ben Shelton in the second round of the tournament.

The Rolex Shanghai Masters is the culminating event of the Asian tour. Since its introduction into the ATP Tour calendar in the 2009 season, the Chinese tournament has established itself as a key event, hosting great locker room champions on its courts. In a roll of honor full of stars, names such as Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Daniil Medvedev stand out. The Polish Hubert Hurkacz is the current champion of the tournament.

Did you know that…?
No Spanish player has managed to lift the individual title of the Rolex Shanghai Masters. In the only ATP Masters 1000 that resists the victories of La Armada, figures such as Rafael Nadal (2009, 2017), David Ferrer (2011) and Roberto Bautista Agut (2016) managed to climb to the final at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena .