Carlos Alcaraz reveals reason for bold new look after easing through at Shanghai Masters
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Carlos Alcaraz debuted a new look as he progressed to the third round of the Shanghai Masters.
The second seed sported a moustache along with all his team in the stands as he swept to a 6-3 6-3 victory over Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
Alcaraz revealed the facial hair agreement came as a result of his first title since February in Tokyo earlier this week.
“It’s going to stay for the week,” said the Spaniard. “I always wanted to step on the court with a moustache.
“Before Tokyo it was like, ‘All right, if I win the tournament, we all have to have the moustache and play Shanghai with a moustache’. It’s going to be fun, we’re laughing around, just having fun with it.”
Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot provided one of the stories of the tennis season last year when he won the title in Shanghai as a qualifier, beating cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final, and he opened his campaign with a 6-4 7-6 (5) victory over Sebastian Baez.
Fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime needed nearly three hours to see off Camilo Ugo Carabelli 4-6 7-6 (1) 7-5 while Daniil Medvedev, playing his first match since being defaulted in Beijing for hitting a spectator with a loose ball, also came from a set down to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6 6-4 6-3.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, meanwhile, overcame a delay of more than 15 minutes caused by overly bright screens at the back of the court to see off 18th seed Luciano Darderi 6-3 6-4.
PA
