World No. 1 Jannik Sinner admitted he needed a break after battling through fatigue to rally from a set down and defeat Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 at the Shanghai Masters on Sunday.
Sinner, visibly tired just days after his three-hour, 21-minute loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the China Open final, dropped the first set in a tiebreak against the 37th-ranked Etcheverry.
However, the 23-year-old regained composure, breaking his opponent twice in the second set before cruising to victory.
He will be joined in the last 16 by Daniil Medvedev, who battled past Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, and Alcaraz, who eased through his straight-sets win over China’s Wu Yibing.
"Tomorrow is one day off, which I really need. I felt it physically today," Sinner said. "I had some chances in the first set but couldn't use them. I'm very happy with how I bounced back."
World No. 5 Medvedev broke early in the first set, but 36th-ranked Arnaldi kept his cool, breaking back in the sixth game on an unforced error from the Russian. Arnaldi broke again in the 12th game after Medvedev hit long.
Medvedev’s mood darkened under pressure from Arnaldi in the second set. He received two code violations and a point penalty after arguing with the umpire. The 28-year-old former world No. 1 recovered to take the match to a deciding set, coming through after two hours, 44 minutes.
"I was expecting him to play differently. He played very well," Medvedev said of Arnaldi. "To be honest, in the first set, I should have done better. The second and third were even closer ... but in the end, I'm happy to win."
Alcaraz wins again
World No. 2 Alcaraz had an easier time, defeating Wu 7-6 (5), 6-3. Wild card Wu held off the Spaniard until the first set tiebreak.
Four-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz hit his stride in the second set, breaking in the sixth game. Wu, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 54 last year, has slipped to No. 560 due to injury.
"Once again, he's shown his level. He deserves to be in the top 100," Alcaraz said of Wu, to roars of approval from the home crowd. "I'm very happy to get through – it was a tough match."
Wu is the second Chinese player Alcaraz has defeated in this tournament, having beaten Shang Juncheng on Saturday.
"Thank God I'm not going to play a Chinese player again. I hope more people will cheer for me!" Alcaraz joked.
Play was possible only under the roof of the main court, as rain forced the postponement of outside matches for the second consecutive day.