A Shock Exit on the Hard Courts of Shanghai
Carlos Alcaraz arrived at the Shanghai Rolex Masters riding genuine momentum. He had just claimed the Japan Open title for the second consecutive year, and his opening-round win over Juan Manuel Cerundolo in straight sets suggested he was ready to go deep in China. Instead, Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs had other ideas, dismantling the Spaniard in straight sets and sending one of the tournament's biggest names home far too early.
The match unraveled quickly. Alcaraz was broken twice in the opening set, which he dropped 7-5, and when a second-set tiebreak also went against him, his fate was sealed. Throughout the match, Alcaraz was clearly unsettled by the playing conditions, and he made no secret of his frustration to coach Samuel Lopez courtside. During the first set, he was overheard saying he could not make sense of the way the ball was behaving, adding that tennis played purely on instinct was impossible in those conditions.
A Tournament That Continues to Haunt Him
This defeat only deepens what is becoming a genuine problem venue for Alcaraz. In three appearances at Shanghai, he has never advanced past the quarterfinals. A fourth-round loss to Grigor Dimitrov in 2023 was followed by a last-eight exit against Tomas Machac the following year. After skipping the event entirely last season, his 2026 return produced another early farewell, leaving him with a 6-3 record and a 66.6 percent win rate at the tournament.
Only the Paris Masters and the Canadian Open sit worse in his Masters 1000 ledger, and he has yet to win any of those three events. Alcaraz will next compete at the Six Kings Slam, scheduled for October 21 through 24 and broadcast internationally on Netflix. TennisDraw users will be watching closely to see if he can bounce back from this disappointment on the exhibition stage.
