No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain rallied to defeat No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3) to capture his fourth title of the season Wednesday at the China Open in Beijing.
The three-hour, 21-minute battle was the longest match in the history of the ATP 500 tournament and improved Alcaraz’s record to 3-0 against his rival in 2024 — also winning at Indian Wells and the French Open.
Sinner, the defending champion, had won 18 of his past 19 tiebreaks and jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third-set tiebreak before Alcaraz ripped off seven straight points to claim the trophy.
Alcaraz finished with 55 winners and 59 unforced errors, compared to 31 and 46 for Sinner. Alcaraz now owns a 6-4 lead in their head-to-head series.
Shanghai Masters
Frenchman Gael Monfils overpowered Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the second round of the ATP 1000 tournament in China.
The 38-year-old Monfils hammered 22 winners and saved seven of eight break points in the 81-minute victory and will next face No. 22 seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina.
Other first-round winners included Japan’s Taro Daniel, Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, France’s Arthur Cazaux and Arthur Rinderknech, Italy’s Fabio Fognini, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, China’s Juncheng Shang and American qualifier Zachary Svajda.
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz is the defending champion but withdrew due to a knee injury. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy is the No. 1 seed.
