Top seeds continue to fall at Shanghai Masters
Grigor Dimitrov fought back to beat top seed Carlos Alcaraz in three sets and reach the quarter-finals on Wednesday, in the latest upset at the Shanghai Masters. The 18th seed won 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 against an out-of-sorts Alcaraz as the Bulgarian steps up his pursuit of a first ATP title since 2017. He will next face the 22nd-seeded Nicolas Jarry after the Chilean defeated wild card Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. The first Shanghai Masters since the pandemic has opened up for Dimitrov after the exits of Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner. Russia's Andrey Rublev is the highest remaining seed left in the draw at five. World number one Novak Djokovic is not in China. "I'm still here, I'm not going anywhere," the 32-year-old Dimitrov said after dismissing Alcaraz. Spain's Alcaraz, the world number two, was chasing a seventh tour-level title of the season but he uncharacteristically crumbled after winning the first set. "I knew what I had to do," said Dimitrov. "I knew I had to apply constant pressure against him. "Even if I was down, even if my shots were not good enough, I had to put him in uncomfortable positions. "He doesn't like being on the back foot." Alcaraz, who had been the favourite for the Shanghai crown in Djokovic's absence, said he had always been up against it. "He was on another level today, this Grigor," said Alcaraz, who lost to Sinner in the semi-finals in Beijing and won't look back on his visit to China with much fondness as a result. "I was all the time defending, I could not find the way to put myself in a position to attack." The efficient Rublev, meanwhile, beat the American 12th seed Tommy Paul 7-5, 7-5 in their last-16 encounter in the late-night match. Rublev meets Ugo Humbert of France in the quarter-finals after the 32nd seed demolished J.J. Wolf, also of the United States, 6-1, 6-2 in just 57 minutes. (AFP)