Alcaraz Beats Cerundolo to Reach Shanghai Third Round

Carlos Alcaraz is rolling in Shanghai, moustache and all. The world No. 3 beat Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 6-3 in 66 minutes on Saturday night to reach the third round of the Rolex Shanghai Masters, his seventh straight win after defending his title in Tokyo, per the ATP Tour.

That streak matters. Alcaraz missed four and a half months of this season with a wrist injury, came back at the US Open and lost to Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals, and has been stacking wins ever since. Shanghai is one of three Masters 1000 titles he has never won, along with Canada and Paris, and no Spanish man has ever lifted the trophy here.

Alcaraz lived at the net

This was not a baseline grind. Alcaraz fired 24 winners and won 13 of his 20 points at the net, using Shanghai's quick courts to keep Cerundolo on his heels.

Funny part: that was not the plan. Alcaraz said he started slow and could not find his rhythm, so he switched it up mid-match.

"The speed of the court is very fast, which I like," Alcaraz said. "Thanks to that, I started not very well, not getting the rhythm. So I tried to do something different."

Cerundolo was no pushover on paper. He stunned Jannik Sinner in five sets in the second round of Roland Garros this year and was trying to become the first player since Andrey Rublev in 2024 to beat Sinner and Alcaraz in the same season. Alcaraz shut that down fast.

About that moustache

Yes, Carlitos walked out with a freshly trimmed moustache, and yes, there is a story.

"It's going to stay for the week," he said. "Before Tokyo with the team, we said, 'If I win the tournament, we all have to do the moustache and play Shanghai with it.' We're having fun with it. It came to stay."

He won Tokyo for the 27th tour-level title of his career, so the whole team is rocking the look this week.

What is next in Shanghai

Alcaraz plays either Ignacio Buse or Zizou Bergs in the third round. Win that, and a fourth-round date with defending champion Valentin Vacherot could be waiting.

With Sinner done for the season, this is a huge window for Alcaraz to grab a Masters title he has never won. If he keeps attacking the net like this, the rest of the Shanghai draw should be nervous.