SHANGHAI: Wildcard Diego Schwartzman knocked world No. 8 Taylor Fritz out of the Shanghai Masters in a thrilling third-set tiebreaker today, with top seed Carlos Alcaraz looking to claim a spot in the final 16.
The diminutive Argentinian has seen his ranking slide from eighth in the world to 130, but played his best tennis to topple Fritz 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).
The rankings and age gaps were hardly noticeable over a three-hour skirmish which saw 31-year-old Schwartzman playing up to the crowd, encouraging them to whoop and cheer for him.
In contrast, an error-prone Fritz seemed increasingly flustered, pinging his racket off the ground in irritation at one point.
The 25-year-old American was caught off-guard from the beginning, falling behind by four games in the opening set.
When he hit the ball into the net to seal his defeat, Schwartzman threw both arms in the air and screamed for joy.
"I think it was a great match," the Argentinian said at the end.
"At some point he started to serve much better, so it was very difficult for me."
He profusely thanked the tournament organisers for giving him the wildcard, admitting it was "not his best year" up to now.
Fan favourite Grigor Dimitrov also moved through to the last 16, after overcoming a torrential downpour and a well-matched opponent in Russian Karen Khachanov to win 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.
The match had to be suspended at 6-6 in the first set after the heavens opened and doused centre court.
Once the Qizhong Tennis Centre roof had been closed and a host of volunteers had towelled and blowdried the court, world No. 19 Dimitrov inched a tight tiebreaker and followed that by taking the second set.
"I knew it was going to be a very competitive match... (Khachanov's) hungry and he's so competitive – but so am I," said the 32-year-old Bulgarian after his win.
There was heartbreak for French 19-year-old Arthur Fils, who came from a set down against world number 12 Tommy Paul to win a tiebreaker in the second set.
The emerging star – who won his maiden ATP Tour title in Lyon this year – started strong in the third set, breaking Paul's serve to win the first game.
The players were level at the eighth game, but the American snatched the last two to win 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4.
Fils' compatriot Adrian Mannarino was dismissed 6-3, 6-0 by world No. 7 Andrey Rublev in just an hour.
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will battle for a place in the fourth round against Britain's Daniel Evans, ranked 33rd in the world.
Jannik Sinner, who knocked Alcaraz out of the China Open semi-finals in Beijing last week, has already clinched his spot.
But defending champion Daniil Medvedev suffered a shock defeat at the hands of 26th-ranked American Sebastian Korda on Sunday. --AFP