Carlos Alcaraz continued his bid for back-to-back titles in China by beating Gael Monfils to reach the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters, following the example set earlier by world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

Alcaraz triumphed 6-4 7-5 to set up a last-eight tie against Tommy Paul or Tomas Machac and the Beijing champion is yet to drop a set this week.

Monfils put up a brave display against the player he stunned in Cincinnati earlier this season, but one break in each set was enough for Alcaraz to seal victory in just under an hour-and-a-half.

The third seed is now on a 12-match winning streak as he aims for a fifth title of the season.

If he makes it to the semi-finals, Alcaraz will face a tough challenge against either world No. 1 Sinner, who dispatched Ben Shelton in the last 16, or fifth seed Daniil Medvedev, who defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas.

And Alcaraz was asked after his win if he was already thinking about a possible rematch with the Italian, after watching him beat Shelton before heading onto court.  

“It’s always on your mind. Every tournament I go to, I want to go further and that means I’m going to play the best players in the world,” Alcaraz said.  

“Obviously it’s a great goal to reach the semi-final. Let’s see if he’s going to make it as well.

“I’ve seen his matches before mine, he’s playing at a great level. Watching great matches before mine helped me a lot to put a good show when I step on the court.”

Both players made a strong start on serve before Monfils earned the first break point in game five, only for Alcaraz to snuff it out with two aces in a run of three points.

Alcaraz made the breakthrough at the opportune moment, taking a 5-4 lead with a winner on break point before serving out a 36-minute opening set.

Strong serving from both players continued into set two, with only one break point – saved by Monfils – on offer up to 5-5.

The Spaniard again put the hammer down late in the set, roaring back from 0-40 down on the Monfils serve to force deuce before claiming the third of his break points and again serving out with little fuss.

“The main thing I tried was to stay calm, control my emotions and just wait for my chances,” Alcaraz said.

“I had a few opportunities to break at the beginning of the second set, and I couldn’t make it, but I tried to stay calm and think I’m going to have more during the set.

“I tried to stay as calm as I could during the match and that helped me a lot to show my best tennis. I’m feeling the ball really well, much more than I was in the American swing. Hopefully I can keep going.”   

Top seed Sinner moved into the quarter-finals with a 6-4 7-6(1) win over big-serving birthday boy Shelton.

The world No. 1 took care of business in one hour and 28 minutes to reach the last eight of an ATP 1000 event for the seventh time this season – the first player to achieve that feat since Alexander Zverev six years ago.

He will face Medvedev next for a place in the semi-finals after the fifth seed downed Tsitsipas 7-6(3) 6-3.

“It was very tough. He played only first serves, except one second serve,” Sinner said.

“I tried to wait a little bit. Obviously, playing against him, even if it’s a second serve, it’s very tough to return.

“But if I look at the positive picture, how I ended the match, I tried to stay a bit more aggressive, which I’ve done, and this hopefully can give me confidence for the next round.”

Sinner, the Australian Open and US Open champion, has more ATP wins (62) and titles (six) than any other player this year and looks in the right form to continue that run in China.

But 14th seed Shelton, competing on his 22nd birthday, will exit with some regrets after failing to take any of his seven break point opportunities while losing the only one he allowed Sinner.

The American got off to a sensational start, winning 16 service points in a row to dominate on his racquet, while testing Sinner with some early break chances.

But the top seed survived the onslaught to keep the set on serve before breaking in the ninth game with what proved to be his one and only break point of the match, and serving out the set.

Sinner again had to fight off break chances in set two, coming back from 0-40 down at 3-4 to frustrate Shelton with a huge hold, as the two players couldn’t be separated up to a tie-break.

Shelton won the opening point, but from that moment on, Sinner went into lockdown mode with a run of seven points in a row to seal the breaker and the match in clinical fashion.

Medvedev, still searching for his first title of 2024, earned a tough win over Tsitsipas to secure a quarter-final berth.

The Russian edged the tie-break in an opening set lasting more than an hour before coming back from a break down in the second to prevail, winning the final three games in quick succession.