Roger Federer had to fight but eventually came through a tight opener on Wednesday at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, beating Argentine Diego Schwartzman 7-6(4), 6-4 to advance to the third round of the season's penultimate ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament. Federer improved to 4-0 against Schwartzman in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series and celebrated his 40th match win of the year with the straight-sets victory. The 36-year-old Swiss is now 40-4 during his comeback season. “I think I served well. I had good concentration. Had good energy, as well, which I think is always important early on in a tournament,” Federer said. During his first match in Shanghai since 2015, Federer was aggressive as he has been all season....
Rafael Nadal continued his imperious run of form on Wednesday when he extended his winning streak to 13 matches with victory at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The top seed, seeking his seventh tour-level crown of the year, knocked out #NextGenATP American Jared Donaldson 6-2, 6-1 in 54 minutes on a rain-hit day at the Qi Zhong Stadium. Nadal, the 2009 finalist in Shanghai, had to bide his time to notch his first service break. At 2-3, Donaldson dropped to 0/40 and held off five break points before his Spanish opponent clinched the game in a run of seven straight games – from 2-2 in the first set to a 3-0 lead in the second set. He broke 21-year-old Donaldson, a...
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov dug deep on Wednesday, saving three match points against American Ryan Harrison at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, to further strengthen his claims for a spot at next month’s Nitto ATP Finals. Third seed Dimitrov recovered from a 2-4 deficit in the deciding set and fought back from 3/6 in the tie-break to overcome Harrison 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) in two hours and 34 minutes. When asked about the match points, Dimitrov said, "I knew Ryan was going to hit a risk or just play a solid point. I was ready for either/or. I think at 5/6 when he served that first serve, I knew he was going to come to the net. I just didn't know where he...
Nitto ATP Finals hopeful Marin Cilic improved his chances of returning to The O2 in London for the prestigious season-ending tournament as he opened his Shanghai Rolex Masters title bid Tuesday with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win over Brit Kyle Edmund. The Croatian will guarantee his spot at the Nitto ATP Finals if he wins the Shanghai title, which would be his second Masters 1000 crown (Cincinnati 2016). Cilic, who is currently sixth in the Emirates ATP Race To London, previously qualified in 2014 and ’16. Watch Live On TennisTV Watch Full Match Replays Cilic saved all three break points against the 22-year-old Edmund, prevailing in one hour and 38 minutes to move into the third round. The fourth seed will...
Experience and composure kept Juan Martin del Potro rolling on Tuesday as the 2013 runner-up saw off #NextGenATP Russian Andrey Rublev in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The No. 16 seed prevailed 6-3, 6-4 in his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with the 19 year old. The Argentine put the foot down early to break for 2-0 and was dominant on serve throughout. He never faced a break point in either set and finished with 14 aces to set a third-round showdown with either No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev or Aljaz Bedene, an earlier 6-1, 6-4 winner over Paolo Lorenzi. Watch Live On TennisTV Watch Full Match Replays Rublev, currently No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Race...
