SHANGHAI: Shanghai Masters fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas eased his way into the third round of the tournament Saturday, with top seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev also starting their campaigns.
The world number six had a straightforward job dispatching Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata in straight sets to win 6-4, 6-2.
“It’s nice to have a crowd back, it’s nice that the government... made this possible again,“ said Tsitsipas after the match.
“I’m happy to be back in Shanghai playing among all my Chinese fans, we missed you.”
Tsitsipas made the semi-finals in 2019, but for the next three years the tournament was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many early matches were delayed because of rain, though most fans were in any case focused on centre court, where the popular defending champion Medvedev takes on Chile's Cristian Garin, ranked 98th.
Top seed Alcaraz is also in action later.
The world number two is looking to close the gap on the absent Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings with strong performances in China.
But he was disappointed in Beijing by Italy's Jannik Sinner, who defeated him in the semi-final before going on to beat Medvedev and take the China Open title.
Sinner also takes to the court for the first time Saturday, playing the United States' Marcos Giron. - AFP