The second round of the 2026 Shanghai Masters ended Saturday, with Carlos Alcaraz making a comfortable start to his campaign after his title-winning run in Tokyo.
Daniil Medvedev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Rafael Jodar all recovered from a set down to reach the third round, while Stefanos Tsitsipas recorded his 400th tour-level victory with a straight-sets win over Luciano Darderi.
Elsewhere, defending champion Valentin Vacherot began his title defence with a win over Sebastian Baez, and Arthur Fils, Taylor Fritz and Casper Ruud also progressed.
See the full Day Four results and selected match recaps below.
Day Four Shanghai Masters Round of 64 Results
Key Match Recap
Carlos Alcaraz Def. Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 6-3
Carlos Alcaraz made a winning start in Shanghai, defeating Juan Manuel Cerundolo in just 66 minutes to extend his winning streak to seven matches.
The Spaniard, fresh off defending his Tokyo title, played aggressively, often coming forward to finish points at the net.
Alcaraz hit 24 winners and won 13 of his 20 net approaches, using the quick court conditions to keep Cerundolo under pressure.
Interestingly, the attacking approach wasn’t part of his original game plan.
It wasn’t the plan at the beginning. I tried to be ready and get used to the conditions. The speed of the court is very fast, which I like.
Alcaraz also arrived sporting a moustache, apparently the result of a bet with his team before Tokyo. They agreed that if he won the tournament, everyone would grow one for Shanghai.
He’ll next face Zizou Bergs, with a potential fourth-round meeting against defending champion Valentin Vacherot.
Daniil Medvedev Def. Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Daniil Medvedev recovered from a set down to defeat Jan-Lennard Struff and extend his impressive record against the German to 10-2.
Struff took the opening set 6-4, but Medvedev responded by winning the next two sets by the same margin, then took the third 6-3 to secure his place in the third round.
I was surprised to see the stat, but the win was Medvedev’s 31st hard-court title of 2026, the most of any player on Tour this season.
He’s not really factored into the big events, but outside those he’s collected hard-court titles in Brisbane, Dubai and Hangzhou.
He’ll next face qualifier Dalibor Svrcina, who followed up his win over Cameron Norrie by defeating Tomas Martin Etcheverry in three sets.
Felix Auger-Aliassime Def. Camilo Ugo Carabelli 4-6, 7-6(1), 7-5
Felix Auger-Aliassime survived a difficult opening match against Camilo Ugo Carabelli, recovering from a set down to win in three.
The fourth seed looked to take control of the second set after leading 5-2, but he couldn’t close it out and eventually had to play a tiebreak. Fortunately for him, he dominated the breaker 7-1 to level the match.
The decider was another close affair, with Auger-Aliassime finally breaking through in the 11th game before serving out the win.
Auger-Aliassime is currently 14th in the live Race to Turin, so his ATP Finals hopes are alive but pretty slim. He’ll face Pablo Carreno Busta in the third round after the Spaniard defeated Alejandro Tabilo 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.
Rafael Jodar Def. Thiago Agustin Tirante 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Rafael Jodar made a successful Shanghai debut, coming from a set down to defeat Thiago Agustin Tirante.
The 20-year-old Spaniard had a brilliant clay court season, climbing from outside the top 100 in January to World No. 13.
However, he arrived in Shanghai looking to rediscover some form after first-round defeats at the US Open and Tokyo.
After losing the opening set 6-4, Jodar improved significantly on serve, winning 93% of his first-serve points in the second set to level the match.
He then saved all six break points he faced in the decider to complete the comeback. He’s also 11th in the live Race to Turin, giving him an outside chance of qualifying for the ATP Finals just a year after competing at the Next Gen event.
Jiri Lehecka awaits in the third round after the Czech defeated Nuno Borges in three sets.
Stefanos Tsitsipas Def. Luciano Darderi 6-3, 6-4
Stefanos Tsitsipas bagged his 400th tour-level victory with a straight-sets win over Luciano Darderi.
The Greek took the first set 6-3 before closing out the match 6-4 to reach the third round of a Masters 1000 event for the third time this season.
It’s been a difficult period for Tsitsipas by his previous standards, when he was No. 3 in the world, but back-to-back straight-sets victories in Shanghai offer some encouragement.
He’ll face Taylor Fritz next after the American defeated Matteo Arnaldi 7-5, 6-4.
Valentin Vacherot Def. Sebastian Baez 6-4, 7-6(5)
Defending champion Valentin Vacherot returned to Shanghai to defeat Sebastian Baez in straight sets.
The Monegasque took the opening set 6-4 before edging a tighter second-set tiebreak 7-5 to begin his title defence.
Vacherot produced one of the most remarkable Masters 1000 runs in recent memory here last year, winning the title as World No. 204 to become the lowest-ranked champion in the category’s history.
Twelve months later, he’s established himself in the world’s top 20 and arrived in Shanghai ranked No. 14 for the first time.
He’ll face 15th seed Tommy Paul in the third round after the American comfortably defeated Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 6-2, 6-2.
It’ll be their first meeting and another test of whether Vacherot can replicate the tennis that carried him to last year’s title.
Highlights
Shanghai Masters Day 5 Round of 32 Matches
- (1) Alexander Zverev vs Quentin Halys
- (19) Alexander Bublik vs (16) Brandon Nakashima
- (9) Alex de Minaur vs (Q) Rei Sakamoto
- (26) Karen Khachanov vs Adrian Mannarino
- (3) Ben Shelton vs Arthur Gea
- (21) Francisco Cerundolo vs (13) Jakub Mensik
- Hubert Hurkacz vs (WC) Yi Zhou
- (25) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs (7) Frances Tiafoe
