The vast courts of the Shanghai Masters 1000 recently saw an unexpected turn for one of the top doubles teams. Portuguese tennis star Francisco Cabral and his Austrian partner Lucas Miedler, seeded eighth for the tournament, bowed out early. They fell in the first round on Friday, losing to the pairing of Andre Goransson from Sweden and Alex Michelsen from the United States.
The match wrapped up in one hour and 37 minutes. Cabral and Miedler lost with a score of 6-2, 7-6 (8). This was a tough defeat for the ranked duo. Cabral sits at 27th in the world for doubles, while Miedler is just ahead at 24th. Their opponents, Goransson and Michelsen, are ranked 40th and 150th, respectively, making the upset more notable.
This season has been a mixed bag for the Luso-Austrian team. They clinched two titles earlier in the year, tasting victory in Gstaad and Hangzhou. However, this early exit in Shanghai marks their second opening-round defeat of the season. It also represents their fifth overall tournament loss this year, a statistic they’ll be keen to improve upon.
Meanwhile, another Portuguese player is making waves in the singles draw. Nuno Borges, ranked 51st in the world, successfully advanced to the second round. His next challenge is a formidable one. Borges will face Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is ranked 35th, in a Saturday showdown. This upcoming match will be their third time playing each other, with Tsitsipas having claimed victory in their previous two encounters.
