Sinner avenges Shanghai's loss to Shelton. Tsitsipas curses the referee

SHANGHAI (AP) – Jannik Sinner avenged his loss to Ben Shelton in the fourth round of last year's Shanghai Masters with a 6-4, 7-6 (1), spoiling the 22-year-old American's birthday on Wednesday.

Like last year, the duel was again characterized by incredible shots and serve dominance, but this time the 23-year-old Italian prevailed and improved his record against Shelton to 4-1.

“I'm happy with how I handled this situation. “It’s obviously a position I was in last year and where I am now it’s different so I’m happy to be in the position I’m in,” Sinner said.

Sinner's break in the ninth game was all that separated the duo in the first set. Both players then dominated on serve until the second round before the Italian raced away in the tiebreak and won the last seven points of the match to advance to his seventh ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal of the year.

He will play fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, who previously defeated his long-time rival Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (3), 6-3. In a game in which the Greek player launched a minute-long rant against referee Fergus Murphy, a time violation notice was issued at the over and initially refused to continue play.

“You’ve never played tennis in your life. “You don’t seem to know anything about tennis,” Tsitsipas told Murphy. “In any case, you had no career. You probably played serve and volley every time.

“Anyway, tennis is a physical sport and we need some time there. You need to show some compassion, because you don't show compassion.

“It’s a physical sport. We're not throwing darts here, okay?

“If it gets unfair, I have to talk to the manager. “You seem to have no idea what you are doing,” Tsitsipas continued as the crowd began to clap more slowly.

In a similar incident the day before Frances Tiafoe repeatedly insulted a chair umpire after losing his third round match and later apologizing.

Second place Carlos AlcarazWHO won the China Open In a thriller against Sinner last week, he secured his 12th straight win with a challenging 6-4, 7-5 victory over French veteran Gael Monfils to advance to the quarter-finals.

Alcaraz needed all his shooting skills to outmaneuver the 38-year-old Monfils, with the 21-year-old Spaniard scoring 22 winners and taking a break in each set to decide the match in 87 minutes.

The French Open And Wimbledon The champion will play against Tomas Machac in the quarterfinals.

Four-time champion Novak Djokovic He continued his quest for a 100th career title with a 6-3, 6-2 win over 61st-ranked Roman Safiullin, but third-seeded Alexander Zverev fell to David Goffin of Belgium 6-4, 7-5.

The 33-year-old Goffin will face seventh seed Taylor Fritz for a place in the semifinals. Fritz defeated Dane Holger Rune 6:1, 6:2 to secure his place in the last eight.

Wuhan open

Second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka maintained her unbeaten record at the Wuhan Open, opening her campaign with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over 37th-ranked Katerina Siniakova in a second-round match on Wednesday.

Two-time defending champion Sabalenka, who received a bye in the first round along with the other eight top seeds, beat her Czech opponent twice in each set – and also gave up one of her own service games – as she took her final win in the first hour and 34 minutes playing time.

In the third round, the 26-year-old Belarusian will face Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva, who finished Paris Olympic silver medalist Donna Vekic's tournament with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory.

The ruler US Open champion She is now 13-0 in Wuhan, having won the title in her first appearance in 2018 and defended her crown in 2019 before the tournament ended its five-year hiatus due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and a WTA boycott by China inserted from the calendar.

“I missed Wuhan a lot,” Sabalenka said. “I have really good memories of winning the title here twice. Wuhan alone brings me a lot of great memories and good vibes.”

Sabalenka just needs to reach the quarterfinals in Wuhan to reclaim the top spot in the rankings Iga Swiatekwho withdrew from the Asian women's swing due to fatigue and personal reasons. Swiatek recently Separation from the coach Tomasz Wiktorowski.

Six Americans appeared in second-round games on Wednesday.

China Open champion Coco Gauff beat Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova 6-1, 6-2 in 75 minutes, while Hailey Baptiste beat 10th-seeded Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 7-5 for her first win over a top-10 player.

Magdalena Frech defeated eighth-seeded Emma Navarro 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in just over two hours, and No. 11 seed Daria Kasatkina overcame a stumble midway through the match to beat American Bernarda Pera by 6 :4, 1:1. 6, 6-1.

Amanda Anisimova withdrew from her match against 17th-ranked Marta Kostyuk.

Third seed Jessica Pegula advanced as her opponent Anastasia Potapova was eliminated 6-2, 2-0 by the American, while Erika Andreeva won 6-3, 6-1 in a clash with her sister Mirra. It was the first time they faced each other in a tour-level tournament.

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AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis