Shanghai Masters: Paul battles past Fils to book spot in last 16

American Tommy Paul, the No 12 seed, edged out Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4 to reach the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters at the Qi Zhong Stadium.

Paul, ranked No 12, will face Russian Andrey Rublev, the No 5 seed, next.

The American won against Austrian Sebastian Ofner (6-3, 6-0) in the previous round of the Shanghai tournament.

Earlier in the tournament, Fils, ranked No 44, defeated Russian Pavel Kotov (6-1, 6-4) and Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the No 24 seed (6-2, 7-5).

Shanghai Masters, other third-round results (Qi Zhong Stadium, hard, USD 8.800.000, most recent results first):

• Ugo Humbert (32) beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (4): 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
• J.J. Wolf beat Matteo Arnaldi: 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
• Carlos Alcaraz (1) beat Daniel Evans (30): 7-6 (1), 6-4
• Nicolas Jarry (22) beat Lorenzo Sonego: 7-6 (4), 6-2
• Andrey Rublev beat Adrian Mannarino (31): 6-3, 6-0
• Diego Schwartzman (WC) beat Taylor Fritz (7): 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5)
• Grigor Dimitrov (18) beat Karen Khachanov (13): 7-6 (6), 6-4
• Zhizhen Zhang beat Brandon Nakashima: 7-6 (2), 6-2
• Jannik Sinner (6) beat Sebastian Baez (25): 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Francisco Cerundolo (20) beat Marton Fucsovics: 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
• Fabian Marozsan beat Dusan Lajovic: 6-3, 6-3
• Ben Shelton (19) beat Roman Safiullin: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Hubert Hurkacz (16) beat Yu Hsiou Hsu (Q): 6-4, 6-4
• Sebastian Korda (26) beat Daniil Medvedev (2): 7-6 (8), 6-2
• Casper Ruud (8) beat Christopher Eubanks (29): 6-4, 6-2