Carlos Alcaraz was commanding scoring his seventh straight win in Shanghai today.
Richard PagliaroOctober 10, 20263 minute read
By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, October 10, 2026
Photo credit: Mutua Madrid Open
Sporting new facial hair and familiar all-court acumen, Carlos Alcaraz charged through his Shanghai opener.
The second-seeded Alcaraz shredded Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 6-3 In his Rolex Shanghai Masters return today.
Applying his attacking game, Alcaraz served 78 percent, won 31 of 36 first-serve points and was 17 of 24 at net in a commanding performance that featured a new look.
“I think it was really, really good,” Alcaraz said of his performance afterward. “First match of every tournament is never easy. Conditions are really different, quite different than Tokyo. I only had two days here to adapt myself. I didn’t practice on the center court, so I just stepped on the court trying to find how fast is the court, how the conditions are out there, and trying to play my best.
“At the beginning it was a little bit uncomfortable for me, didn’t get the good rhythm. Suddenly, I just realized that I have to play aggressive, trying to go to the net as much as I can and I think it worked.”
The Australian Open champion and his entire box sported mustaches with Alcaraz signing the court-side camera “Mustache team” after improving to 33-4 on the season.
Empowered by his run to the Tokyo title earlier this week, Alcaraz scored his seventh straight win.
The 23-year-old Alcaraz also won a bet with his team by winning Tokyo, which prompted the facial hair.
“It was just about a bet. I wanted to play with a mustache, trying how I look with it,” Alcaraz said. “So, and, yeah, the tournament of Tokyo, we said, Okay, if I win the tournament, we all have to do the mustache for Shanghai.
“So let’s see until when we’re going to wear it, but right now we’re just having fun and laughing around.”
Launching his quest to become the first Spanish champion in Shanghai history, Alcaraz advanced to the Rolex Masters Shanghai second round against either Peruvian Ignacio Buse or Belgian Zizou Bergs.
Navigating a deuce hold to start, Alcaraz quickly found his range and rhythm against the left-handed Argentinean. Alcaraz whipped an ace wide that helped him hold at love for a 3-2 lead after 16 minutes.
Amping up aggression, Alcaraz carved a creative backhand volley winner for break point. Reading the left-hander’s wide serve, Alcaraz blasted a backhand return winner down the line, drawing first-break blood for 4-2.
Serving-and-volleying with frequency in the latter stages of the set, Alcaraz burst forward and blocked a slick backhand volley winner, stamping his third straight love hold to seal a one-set lead.
Alcaraz was nine of 11 at net in the 31-minute opening set.
Driven backward at times by the Spaniard’s heavy drives, Cerundolo shoveled a drop shot into the middle of the net, surrendering serve to start the second set.
The Australian Open champion cracked an ace wide to wrap his fourth consecutive shutout hold for 2-0.
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Alcaraz pushed a half-volley net cord that dribbled over for match point in the ninth game. Cerundolo saved it only to see Alcaraz attack again and coax an errant pass for a second match point.
When Cerundolo sent a forehand long, Alcaraz was through in 66 minutes.
