“Toughest outside Grand Slams,” Carlos Alcaraz pushed to his limits by Dan Evans in Shanghai Masters as the Spaniard forced to bring out his best

Carlos Alcaraz advances to the fourth round after bagging the third round against Dan Evans at the Shanghai Open. 

“Toughest outside Grand Slams,” Carlos Alcaraz pushed to his limits by Dan Evans in Shanghai Masters as the Spaniard forced to bring out his best

Dan Evans and Carlos Alcaraz(Image via Sky Sports)

World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz called his third-round match against Dan Evans one of the best matches he played outside the Grand Slams. The match was a two-set thriller where both players fought till the end. With that being said, it is safe to say that the match was a display of the level of tennis on the Tour at the moment.

Although the Spaniard won in straight sets, the match held much more grit than it can be explained. The young prodigy won with a score of 7-6, 6-4, which shows that Evans was playing at the highest level till the end of the game. However, it was ultimately the two-time Grand Slam champion who moved on to the fourth round. Nevertheless, it is necessary that the Briton be applauded for his battle till the end.

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During the press conference following the third round in Shanghai, Alcaraz showered Dan with the utmost appreciation and praise. “It was a really tough match. As I said, it was one of the toughest matches I’ve played outside the Grand Slams,” he said. He also mentioned that every time he faced Dan, he knew within himself that it would be a tough match. That’s not all; as per the former World No. 1 himself, he needed to play his best game when it was a match against the Brit.

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Continuing his train of thought, he further added, “I’m really happy to get through and, of course, really happy with the level I played today.” However, more interestingly, he refused to take all the credit for the extraordinary match between the two. “I think both of us played high-quality tennis,” said the Spaniard.

The duo have faced each other four times in their careers, with Carlos bagging the win every single time. However, the Spaniard indicated that all four matches required the highest level of tennis to be played.

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Carlos Alcaraz identifies his toughest foes

World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz has been establishing himself as one of the toughest competitors on the field. While this may be true, the Spaniard has revealed that there are some players on the tour who make a chill down his spine.

Carlos Alcaraz with Daniil Medvedev(L) and Jannik Sinner(R) (Image via Hindustan Times and Eurosport)

While one might expect the Spaniard to identify Novak Djokovic as his greatest rival, the Serb is one player who has not made the list. However, according to Alcaraz, it is Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner whom he fears the most. These two players have upset the Spaniard in the very recent past. With Medvedev at the US Open semi-final and Sinner at the China Open semi-final, both players have shown Alcaraz that they have it in them to best the World No. 2.

Nevertheless, Alcaraz is indeed one of the best players on the Tour. With two Grand Slam titles to his name, at just 20 years old, the Spaniard is creating ripples in the tennis World. He also hoped that they would find themselves in a rivalry similar to the one shared between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

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