SHANGHAI — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner overcame a one-set deficit to rally to a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 win against Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Shanghai Masters.
A night after winning his 250th career match with a straight-sets victory, the 23-year-old Italian faced a much sterner third-round examination against the No. 37-ranked Argentine under the roof inside Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena.
Sinner will next play either No. 16-ranked Ben Shelton, who beat the Italian here last year, or Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain.
Etcheverry produced the shot of the night with a stunning drop volley to bring up set point in the first-set tiebreak, which he converted to take the lead.
Sinner began to better find his range in the second and after trading breaks midway through the set, the Italian found another opportunity to level the match.
The momentum was all with Sinner in the third as he broke Etcheverry twice more to advance in 2 hours, 39 minutes under a retractable roof on the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena. Due to heavy rain, play was restricted to the main court with all matches on outside courts postponed to Monday.
“It was a very tough match, physically [and] mentally, so I am very happy to get through this one,” said Sinner, who is chasing a seventh title this year.
Fifth-ranked Daniil Medvedev also came from behind for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Matteo Arnaldi to book his fourth-round berth against either 12th-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexandre Muller.
Medvedev, 28, was forced to dig deep to level the match after the Italian took a tight first set.
In the deciding set, Medvedev’s experience and composure came to the fore as he clinched a vital break in the ninth game and held firm to close out the match in 2 hours, 44 minutes.
Second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who won the China Open on Wednesday for his fourth title of the year, defeated Chinese player Wu Yibing 7-6 (5), 6-3.