Taylor Fritz fought off a brilliant attacking performance from Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki to win his Saturday opener at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. The American earned a 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-4 victory, breaking in the match’s final game after he stopped his opponent from serving out each of the first two sets prior to the tie-breaks.

The 25-year-old Watanuki played one of the best matches of his career against his first Top 10 opponent but was thwarted by Fritz’s steadier play, particularly in the closing stages of each set. The World No. 79 did not face a break point until he lost serve at 5-4 in the opener, and he failed to serve out the second set at 5-3.

“It came down to the smallest margins,” said Fritz, who capitalised on the lone break point of the final set, which doubled as match point. “To be honest, it just came down to me upping it just a bit in the end and then him making mistakes when prior he wasn’t really doing much wrong.

“It was tough for me to play my game because no matter what shot I hit, he just blasted a winner or missed off of it. So I was just fighting to stay in it.”

Watanuki hit 53 winners and 44 unforced errors, filling up the stat sheet compared to Fritz’s tidier 26-to-17 ratio. The Japanese player — who reached the final at a Shanghai ATP Challenger Tour event last month in his most recent previous tournament — hit 25 forehand winners, but also made 28 unforced errors off that wing.

In the face of Watanuki’s big hitting, Fritz stayed the course and was ultimately rewarded deep in the final set. He had a set point at 6/5 in the second-set tie-break, but was forced into a decider when Watanuki won three straight points to snatch the set.

“From the ground, there’s nothing I can do different,” Fritz said. “I’m not going to start red-lining and blasting every ball because of how well he’s playing. I’m going to try to hit the ball a little bigger and if he keeps coming up with winners and coming up with big shots, then it is what it is.”

Aided by 15 aces, the seventh-seeded Fritz improved to 51-20 on the season with the result. The 51 wins are a personal best for the American in a season, and he is the first American man with 50+ wins in a year since James Blake and Andy Roddick (both 54) in 2007.

The 25-year-old sits in ninth place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, currently on the outside looking in for a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals. But opening Shanghai defeats for seventh-placed Alexander Zverev and eighth-placed Holger Rune have opened the door for Fritz to make a move at the ATP Masters 1000. His win against Watanuki moved him within 235 points of Rune for a place in the all-important top eight.

Next up for the American is either 27th seed Jiri Lehecka or Diego Schwartzman.

American Tommy Paul also advanced on Saturday with a 6-3, 6-0 win against Sebastian Ofner. The 12th seed did not face a break point in the match and converted on five of his six break chances.

Paul will meet 24th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Arthur Fils in the next round.

Saturday’s play at the Rolex Shanghai Masters was disrupted after persistent rain forced matches on outside courts to be suspended at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

After a couple of short stoppages earlier in the day, play was halted just after 4 p.m. local time in China. The action continued under the retractable roof of the Qizhong Tennis Center’s Stadium Court, where Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner and top seed Carlos Alcaraz claimed second-round victories. Taylor Fritz’s clash with Yosuke Watanuki is set to round out the day’s play.

Matches involving seeded players Frances Tiafoe, Cameron Norrie and Ugo Humbert will all be finished on Sunday due to the inclement weather. Norrie leads J.J. Wolf 3-6, 7-5, 3-2 with a break in the third set, while Tiafoe trails Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 2-6, 1-2 with the pair on serve in the decider. Humbert and Botic van de Zandschulp are level at 2-2 in the opening set of their second-round clash.

Carlos Alcaraz settled in quickly to his maiden Rolex Shanghai Masters campaign on Saturday, when the top seed overcame a spirited Gregoire Barrere 6-2, 7-5 at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Alcaraz stayed the more consistent at key moments to claim a one-hour, 42-minute triumph against the World No. 73. He made a lightning-fast start inside Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, where he raced to a 4-0 lead early and ultimately saved six of seven break points he faced to improve to 15-0 in opening matches this season. The Spaniard was delighted to bounce back quickly from his defeat to Jannik Sinner in the Beijing semi-finals just four days ago.

“I had just one practice here in Shanghai and then the match,” reflected the Spaniard. “I think he was more used to these conditions. He had more practice, a match in the bag, so it was really difficult to adapt my game in a new city, new conditions, but I think I did pretty well.

“I played really focused, I tried to take lessons from the last match in Beijing and tried to be a better player. I tried to not make the mistakes I did in Beijing and I think today I did pretty well.”

Barrere competed well in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Alcaraz, particularly from the baseline where he regularly matched Alcaraz’s power and precision with his groundstrokes. He struggled with his serve throughout the match, though, making just 53 per cent (42/79) of first deliveries. That tally undermined the Frenchman’s bid for a first Top 10 win as Alcaraz maintained constant pressure in return games.

Alcaraz appeared to be marching to victory when he broke for 4-3 in the second set, but Barrere produced an immediate burst of clean hitting to clinch his first break of the match in the next game. He continued to struggle against the Spaniard’s razor-sharp returning, however, and Alcaraz claimed his second break of the set in the 11th game before sealing victory by pulling off a remarkable behind-the-back shot on match point.

Now 62-8 for the season, Alcaraz will take on 30th seed Daniel Evans or qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin in the third round as he chases his third Masters 1000 crown of the year. The Spaniard is also attempting to leapfrog Novak Djokovic into first place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin by reaching the final in Shanghai.

Alcaraz’s rival Sinner also kick-started his Shanghai campaign with a straight-sets win. The Italian defeated Marcos Giron 7-6(7), 6-2 for his sixth consecutive win, delivering a solid display to back up winning his third ATP Tour title of the season in Beiing.

The victory secured Sinner’s spot at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals. The 22-year-old competed at the prestigious season finale in Turin as an alternate two years ago, but this marks the first time he has qualified directly.

It was not all plain sailing against Giron for Sinner, who trailed 3/6 in the first-set tie-break and went on to save four set points, including one with a net cord at 5/6, before prevailing. He took command in the second set as his superior power overwhelmed Giron, and Sinner finished with 25 winners to just 15 from his American opponent.

“I’m very happy. The first-round matches are never easy,” said Sinner. “I tried somehow to raise my level. I knew before the match that especially the first set was going to be tough and I started off not in the best possible way. I just tried to stay there, especially mentally. I got lucky when he had set point, so happy about the ending.

“If I see the positive, at the end of the match I played a little bit better so hopefully it gives me confidence for the next round.”

Sinner’s recent focus on improving his net game, so evident during his Beijing title run, was again on display against Giron. The Italian won 90 per cent (19/21) of points when he moved forward, according to the INSIGHTS ‘Battles At Net’ analysis for the match.

Picking up where he left off 🔥🎾@janniksin dominating his #Battlesatnet & giving his #ConversionScore a boost in his win over Giron #TennisInsights | @atptour | @SH_RolexMasters pic.twitter.com/mvILdXfrV1

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) October 7, 2023

Next up for Sinner in Shanghai is a third-round clash with 25th seed Sebastian Baez. It will be a maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash between the two.

Jannik Sinner is the fourth player to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, joining Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev at the season finale, which will be played in Turin from 12-19 November.

The Italian earned his place after defeating Marcos Giron in the second round of the Rolex Shanghai Masters. He has qualified for the year-end championships for the first time after competing at the Pala Alpitour as an alternate in 2021 when countryman Matteo Berrettini withdrew due to injury.

Sinner has enjoyed a season of breakthroughs in 2023. The Italian advanced to his first major semi-final at Wimbledon and lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 trophy in Toronto.

Also a champion this year in Beijing and Montpellier, Sinner made several deep runs throughout the season. He reached the final at the Masters 1000 event in Miami, where he upset Carlos Alcaraz in a semi-final widely viewed as one of the best matches of the year. Sinner also made the final in Rotterdam and reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo.

The 22-year-old is in top form as evidenced by his performance in Beijing, where he defeated Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev in back-to-back straight-sets matches to claim the trophy. 

When Sinner competed as an alternate in Turin two years ago, he showed comfort on the big stage. The Italian defeated Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets before pushing Daniil Medvedev to a final-set tie-break.

Daniil Medvedev picked up where he left off Saturday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

Stepping onto the Qizhong Tennis Center’s Stadium Court for the first time since his 2019 title run, Medvedev ground down Cristian Garin for a 6-3, 6-3 win to kick-start his campaign at the ATP Masters 1000 event. A display packed with trademark defensive nous and a refusal to miss proved too much for Garin as the second seed comfortably advanced having converted five of nine break points he earned.

.@DaniilMedwed will not be denied 🙅‍♂️#RolexShanghaiMasters | @SH_RolexMasters pic.twitter.com/vvkSBEL07b

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 7, 2023

With his 92-minute victory, Medvedev became the second player to notch 60 tour-level wins this season after Carlos Alcaraz. It is the second time he has achieved the feat in his career, after he finished the 2021 season with 63 wins. The 27-year-old Medvedev also owns a Tour-leading 43 victories on hard courts this season.

“I hope so, you never know,” said Medvedev, when asked if he was confident of passing his record of 63 wins. “At this moment and with the form I’m in, I would confidently say I will do it, but never say things too early in tennis.

“I’m going to try my best, I’m going to try to play more good matches in the tournament that I have left this season. It’s a good result so far, so I want to try to do better.”

Medvedev now holds a 7-2 record in Shanghai, where he lifted the second of his six Masters 1000 crowns by beating Alexander Zverev in the 2019 championship match, and is chasing his third title at that level this year having already triumphed in Miami and Rome. He will next look to avenge his Australian Open defeat to Sebastian Korda when he takes on the American in the third round in China.