Rublev Beats Coric In Shanghai; Isner Tops De Minaur

Andrey Rublev extended his perfect FedEx ATP Head2Head record to 3-0 over last year’s runner-up Borna Coric, the No. 12 seed from Croatia, on Tuesday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

The Russian hit 15 aces and lost just four of his first-service points (34/38) to beat Coric, the recent St. Petersburg Open finalist, 6-4, 7-6(4) in one hour and 36 minutes.

The 21-year-old Russian will next face Australia’s John Millman, who knocked out Guido Pella of Argentina 6-3, 7-5 in one hour and 51 minutes. Millman was runner-up to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships on Sunday.

Elsewhere, John Isner denied Alex de Minaur the opportunity to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals in November at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. Isner did not face a break point in a serve-dominated 7-6(1), 6-4 win over 81 minutes, which saw the American strike 18 aces. The No. 16 seed played a perfect first-set tiebreak and broke De Minaur in the ninth game of the second set.

In the second round, Isner will now challenge France’s Lucas Pouille, who recovered from a set and 0-3 deficit to overcame Chinese wild card Zhe Li 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 12 minutes.

American’s Reilly Opelka, who lost to Millman in the Tokyo semi-finals on Saturday, was as equally impressive on serve, hitting 12 aces and losing four first-service points (31/35) in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Dusan Lajovic of Serbia in 65 minutes. Opelka now prepares to face eighth-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, the 2016 Shanghai finalist (l. to Murray).