ATP Shanghai: Müller crushes Auger-Aliassime in the 2nd round, Monfils and Humbert meet in the 3rd round

There will be at least one Frenchman in the round of 16 in Shanghai. Although his task was complicated this Friday, Gaël Monfils qualified well for the 3rd round of the Chinese Masters 1000 where he will face Ugo Humbert. The former French number 1 got the better of the Argentinian Sebastian Baez, 26th in the world, in three sets (6-3, 4-6, 6-4) and 2h12 of play in a game with a fairly illegible scenario.

“La Monf’” could have won much more peacefully. He actually led by a set and a break 6-3, 4-2, before experiencing a guilty relaxation. While he was very solid on break points – he saved the first 8 he faced – the Frenchman gave in on the 9th, when he should have dismissed it too, the ball having been misjudged when it was too long. It was the 2nd in a series of 4 games lost consecutively to see Baez get back to a set everywhere.

Monfils reacted well with a break at the start of the 3rd set, but he paid for his excessive passivity, allowing his rival to come back even further (6-3, 4-6, 2-2). He nevertheless knew how to tighten the game again in money time, stealing the opposing lead at 4-4, this time to win straight away.

His narrow defeat in the Tokyo final obviously did not affect him too much. Ugo Humbert has very good feelings at the moment and he has started his campaign very well in Shanghai. After Son in Japan, Messin bounced back against another compatriot: he left no chance to Arthur Cazaux whom he dismissed in two sets (6-3, 6-2) and 1h22 of play in the 2nd round of the 1000 Chinese Masters. A third 100% French duel awaits him in the 3rd round against former French number 1 Gaël Monfils.

Absolutely calm about his commitments – he only had one break point to save at the start of the second set – Humbert imposed his punch on Cazaux who suffered from a lack of first balls (only 53 %), yet one of its major assets. Offensive, hard-hitting on the forehand, Messin also demonstrated his qualities of anticipation on the restart, as on this winning return straight in front of him which gave him the first break at 4-3. He finished like a cannonball, winning the last five games of the game, against a too passive Cazaux.

For the first time in his career, Alexandre Müller will be in the 3rd round of the Masters 1000 in Shanghai. The Frenchman, 74th player in the world, surprised the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime, 22nd in the ATP rankings and seeded 18 in the tournament, in two sets (6-3, 6-2) and 1h19 Friday in the 2nd round. After beating the Italian Luca Nardi, Müller continued against a “F2A” which was scuttled with a lot of unforced errors (37 against 16).

The 27-year-old Frenchman converted three of his eight break points and saved Auger-Aliassime’s three. The latter saved two first match points on his serve but in the next game, he could not prevent Müller from concluding for a shutout. The Canadian thus concedes his 4th defeat in a row on the ATP circuit, he has not won since the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati. Müller, for his part, will have another major challenge to face against Stefanos Tsitsipas, winner of Kei Nishikori (7-6, 6-4), with a place in the round of 16 at stake.

For Arthur Rinderknech, on the other hand, the Chinese adventure has come to an end. He spent three minutes less on the court (1h16) for a result diametrically opposed to that of his compatriot Müller. The 62nd in the world lost sharply to the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo, 23rd in the world and seeded 19 at the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, in two sets (6-3, 6-2). Very in difficulty on serve (12 break points conceded including 4 breaks), he only won 57% of the points behind his first ball. He couldn’t hope for another result under these conditions.