Shanghai Masters: Safiullin hammers Zverev, reaches round three

Russian Roman Safiullin defeated German Alexander Zverev, the No 9 seed, 6-3, 6-1 to move into the third round of the Shanghai Masters at the Qi Zhong Stadium on Friday night.

The Russian, who lost to Zverev in the Chengdu final, ripped 32 winners to just 11 for Zverev as he progressed in just 74 minutes – Safiullin has dropped just nine games in victories over Andy Murray and Zverev at Shanghai.

Safiullin, ranked No 50, will face American Ben Shelton, the No 19 seed, next. The 26-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon this summer, has matched his best ever Masters 1000 performance, and has now reached the third round at three Masters events in 2023 (Madrid, Rome, Shanghai).

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Shanghai Masters: Safiullin hammers Zverev, reaches round three

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In the previous round of the Shanghai tournament, the Russian won against Andy Murray (6-3, 6-2).

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

• Yosuke Watanuki vs. Taylor Fritz
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Gregoire Barrere
• Quentin Halys vs. Andrey Rublev
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Chun-Hsin Tseng
• Jiri Lehecka vs. Diego Schwartzman
• Jannik Sinner vs. Marcos Giron
• Beibit Zhukayev vs. Karen Khachanov
• Mikhail Kukushkin vs. Daniel Evans
• Cristian Garin vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Arthur Fils vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
• Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Ugo Humbert
• Frances Tiafoe vs. Lorenzo Sonego
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Aleksandar Vukic
• Tommy Paul vs. Sebastian Ofner
• J.J. Wolf vs. Cameron Norrie
• Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Matteo Arnaldi
• Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Rinky Hijikata
• Terence Atmane vs. Nicolas Jarry
• Sebastian Korda (26) beat Yunchaokete Bu (WC): 6-1, 6-4
• Sebastian Baez (25) beat Dane Sweeny (Q): 6-2, 6-4
• Zhizhen Zhang beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry (28): 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Hubert Hurkacz (16) beat Thanasi Kokkinakis: 7-6 (5), 6-4
• Ben Shelton beat Jaume Munar: 6-4, 6-4
• Yu Hsiou Hsu (Q) beat Lorenzo Musetti (17): 6-3, 6-4
• Brandon Nakashima beat Holger Rune (3): 6-0, 6-2
• Marton Fucsovics beat Felix Auger-Aliassime (14): 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3
• Francisco Cerundolo (20) beat Mackenzie McDonald: 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5)
• Fabian Marozsan beat Alex De Minaur (11): 6-3, 7-5
• Dusan Lajovic beat Tallon Griekspoor (23): 6-4, 3-2 ret.
• Christopher Eubanks (29) beat Yannick Hanfmann: 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Casper Ruud (8) beat Yoshihito Nishioka: 7-5, 6-0