No. 14 seed Ben Shelton kept a couple of streaks alive with Friday’s 6-3, 7-5 first-round defeat of Denis Shapovalov at the Rolex Shanghai Masters in China.
The 21-year-old American improved to 11-0 in his opening matches at ATP Masters 1000s and Grand Slam events and moved to 3-0 against the Canadian qualifier.
Shelton struck 11 aces and never faced a break point in the 77-minute match. Shapovalov mustered only 11 winners and finished with five double faults.
“I’m trying to work on being a little bit more calm and focused on the court,” Shelton said. “I think that it’s important for my evolution, and in the evolution of my game, that I continue to be able to focus for extended periods of time and really lock in to play at a higher level for more than one set. I thought I did a great job of that today. I’m happy with the way that I stayed committed to my game style and stayed focused out there.”
Shelton hit 21 winners and won 12 of the 13 points on his second serve to set up a third-round meeting with Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena, a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) winner against No. 21 seed Arthur Fils of France.
Fifth-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev took advantage of 40 unforced errors by Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild for a 7-5, 7-5 win.
“I’m happy I managed to stay composed in tough moments. He had a break in both sets. I managed to put on a lot of pressure and both times it worked at 5-all,” Medvedev said. “I love Shanghai and I feel the people love me back. I enjoy it a lot so I want to stay as long as possible here.”
Medvedev’s next opponent will be No. 29 seed Matteo Arnaldi of Italy, who rallied for a 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-4 victory over Zachary Svajda.
There were multiple upsets Friday. Australian qualifier Aleksandar Vukic upended No. 8 seed Casper Ruud of Norway 6-4, 6-4. France’s Alexandre Muller eliminated No. 18 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-3, 6-2. France’s Gael Monfils ousted No. 22 Sebastian Baez of Argentina 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, and China’s Yibing Wu breezed to a 6-2, 6-1 win against No. 25 Nicolas Jarry of Chile.
No. 11 seed Tommy Paul needed only 60 minutes to dispatch Italy’s Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-3, giving Paul 40-plus wins for the second consecutive season. Paul will next face No. 19 Alejandro Tabilo of Chile after his 6-3, 6-2 victory over Arthur Rinderknech of France.
Also advancing to the third round were No. 10 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, No. 16 Ugo Humbert of France, No. 30 Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic and No. 31 Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina.
–Field Level Media
