Watch: Carlos Alcaraz playfully strokes Andrey Rublev's hair while Russian signs autographs at Shanghai Masters 2023

Carlos Alcaraz, playfully tousled Andrey Rublev's hair while the latter was signing autographs for fans in Shanghai on Saturday, following the World No. 2's victory in the first round against Grégoire Barrère.

Carlos Alcaraz secured his spot in the second round of the Shanghai Masters by defeating French tennis player Grégoire Barrère with a score of 6-2, 7-5. The ATP 1000 tournament began on October 4 and is set to conclude on October 15, with Alcaraz entering the competition as the top seed. Notably, World No.1 Novak Djokovic is the sole player in the ATP top 20 absent from the tournament.

In a video posted on social media on Saturday, October 7, Alcaraz was seen leaving the stadium with his bags packed after his match against 29-year-old Grégoire Barrère. As he exited, he came across Andrey Rublev, who was signing autographs for fans. In a lighthearted moment, Alcaraz playfully touched Rublev's long blonde hair.

Andrey Rublev is scheduled to take on Quentin Halys in the first round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Sunday. This marks their first-ever meeting. In this season, Rublev has achieved victories at the Monte Carlo Masters and the Swedish Open. He also reached the quarterfinals in major tournaments such as the US Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon.

“It was really difficult to adapt my game in a new city” - Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz

The Shanghai Rolex Masters made its return for the first time since 2019, and the tournament also marks Carlos Alcaraz's debut in Shanghai. He even addressed the media following his 6-2, 7-5 victory over Grégoire Barrère in the first round.

With only one practice session in Shanghai, Carlos Alcaraz noted that Grégoire Barrère was more familiar with the Beijing playing conditions due to his extra practice and prior match against Nuno Borges. Adjusting to the new city and conditions was challenging, but Alcaraz felt he handled it well.

“I had just one practice here in Shanghai and then the match, I think he was more used to these conditions. He had more practice, a match in the bag, so it was really difficult to adapt my game in a new city, new conditions, but I think I did pretty well.” Alcaraz said

The Wimbledon champion also emphasized that he approached the match with intense focus and aimed to apply the lessons learned from his previous match in Beijing. His goal was to avoid the mistakes he made in Beijing, where he lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in the semi-final with a score of 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

“I played really focused, I tried to take lessons from the last match in Beijing and tried to be a better player. I tried to not make the mistakes I did in Beijing and I think today I did pretty well.” he said