Wu's unwavering belief

Very few could've forced a red-hot Carlos Alcaraz to battle that hard, and almost nobody on the current ATP Tour could've left the four-time major winner feeling like he had been dominated.

China's 560th-ranked wild card Wu Yibing did, though, at least for a set, in a tighter-than-expected straight-sets loss to Alcaraz in the third round at the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Sunday.

Of course, the Spaniard — coming straight off his victory at last week's ATP500 event China Open in Beijing — eventually cruised past Wu to secure a round-of-16 berth at the top-flight ATP1000 tournament, but the tenacious Wu made sure that he didn't advance unscathed.

By hitting 17 winners to outshine Alcaraz's 13 and taking a 3-1 lead in the tiebreak, Wu pushed the world No 2 to the limit like no one else has done lately, but failed to maintain that intensity and accuracy during 100 minutes of exchanging rapid-fire punches with his almost invincible foe.

Alcaraz survived in a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over Wu, but joked after the match that he certainly doesn't want to play another surging Chinese competitor.

"Obviously, I'm happy to play against someone else that is not Chinese in the next round," the 21-year-old Spaniard laughingly exclaimed after clinching an 11th consecutive win since his shocking second-round exit at the US Open in August.

"I don't want to say I was surprised, but it was the first time I have played against him ...I'm not used to feeling the feelings I had on the court. He is a really powerful player, plays really strong, so I felt like I was not dominating the game," Alcaraz said of Wu's performance.

"He didn't let me play as aggressively as I wanted, or as aggressively as I'm used to playing over the last couple of weeks. He hit it harder than me, deeper than me.

"I had to stay there, I had to put myself into the rally as much and as long as I could. I have to give him credit as well, because he played a really solid match. Just one break. The first serve was so close as well, he could have won that first set, so I was just happy to be able to win in the tiebreak."

Although leaving the court to applause from his high-profile opponent and a capacity crowd on the central court, Wu only rated his performance a seven out of 10 in, arguably, the best display of his career to date, citing a couple of mistakes that could've turned the tide at critical moments.

"He probably won't meet another Chinese tougher to play against than me, I guess," Wu joked about Alcaraz's comment on his game, apparently in pride.

"I got so carried away by the dynamics during the match, and made a few bad decisions in the first-set tiebreak and in the middle of the second that cost me the match," said Wu, who, in Shanghai, played three matches in a row for the first time in a while.

The former junior world No 1 and 2017 US Open boys' champion could've broken into the top echelon of the game much earlier, relying on his aggressive style of play and early exposure to the pro circuit, but a series of injuries and health issues slowed him down and dragged him into a mire of surgeries, followed by long, nagging rehab processes.

His attempt to come back from a left foot surgery he underwent after last year's Hangzhou Asian Games suffered an unexpected blow earlier last month, when he had to retire from his opening match at the ATP250 Hangzhou Open due to a sudden lower back problem, which also forced him to withdraw from Beijing's ATP500 event two weeks ago.

"He is recovering his level. He's coming back from injury, but his level deserves to be at the top for sure," Alcaraz said of Wu. "If he keeps playing at this level, I'm pretty sure I'm going to see him around more often."

During his absence, though, Chinese men's tennis has celebrated a series of historic breakthroughs during the current China swing, with Wu's compatriots Shang Juncheng winning a first ATP title on home soil for Chinese men at the Chengdu Open, and Buyunchaokete making the semifinals at the China Open in Beijing.

As he watched on anxiously, the Shanghai Masters offered him a last chance on the China swing. Fortunately, Wu recovered in time and seized the opportunity to prove that he belongs among the top contenders.

Wu, who will continue his home run at an ATP Challenger tournament in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, next week, promises that he will always come back stronger, no matter how many times the injuries drag him down.

"The fact that I couldn't play while they all shone did not diminish my faith in my game at all. I've proven how well I can play when I am healthy. I just hope I can stay this way without having to fall and rise again," said the 24-year-old Hangzhou native.