2023-09-28 20:21:18
Five days after landing in Beijing, Carlos Alcaraz will debut on the Asian tour. The world number two will face the German Yannick Hanfmann on Friday the 29th in the second match starting at 1:30 p.m. (Movistar +). The tournament begins, in theory, with a placid match for Carlitos. And it is the exception of an event that has a poster more typical of a Masters 1,000 or even a Grand Slam. Only Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz are missing from the ATP top 10. The rest are all there.
Alcaraz returns to the circuit after his defeat in the United States Open semifinals against Russian Daniil Medvedev. He steps for the first time in the tournament in the Chinese capital, which returns to the ATP calendar after four years postponed due to the pandemic.
His next challenge will be the Shanghai Masters 1,000 with the intention of cutting points from Djokovic. With the Serbian enjoying the Ryder Cup in Rome, Alcaraz arrives as a favorite in which another Spaniard, Alejandro Davidovich, is already in the second round.
The demands of the tournament have led Medvedev to assure that Beijing is a “very difficult tournament. It’s like a Masters 1,000 or a Grand Slam. In some ways, it’s even stronger than a Grand Slam because you don’t have first rounds here.” . Medvedev and Alcaraz would only repeat the US Open final if they both reached the final. “Sometimes the end of the season can be difficult because all the Grand Slams are over, so you need to find that motivation. At the same time, we are all competitive, so, for me, the motivation is to try to win,” said the Russian, who will participate for the first time in the Diamond Arena in Beijing.
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