Koolhof/Skupski Advance, De Minaur/Purcell Upset Dodig/Krajicek In Shanghai

Second seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski made a winning start to their Rolex Shanghai Masters campaign on Sunday when they defeated Americans Mackenzie McDonald and Frances Tiafoe 6-7(3), 6-1, 10-3.

The Dutch-British team reached the title match in Beijing last week and quickly adjusted to the hard courts in Shanghai, winning 85 per cent (29/35) of their first-serve points. Chasing their fourth ATP Masters 1000 title as a team, they will next play Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.

Australians Alex de Minaur and Max Purcell upset top seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek, claiming a dramatic victory to reach the second round.

De Minaur and Purcell edged a tight Match Tie-break to triumph 6-7(3), 6-1, 11-9 after one hour and 32 minutes. De Minaur and Purcell are teaming for just the second time this week, having played once together at the Australian Open in 2017.

Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin boosted their Nitto ATP Final qualification hopes with a 6-7(2), 7-6(10), 10-5 win against Zhe Li and Fajing Sun. Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin, fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, saved three match points in the second set before eventually advancing after two hours and 14 minutes.

They will next face Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul after the Frenchmen defeated Taylor Fritz and Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-4.

Eighth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 7-5, while Robin Haase and Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Astana champions Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 3-6, 6-3, 10-8.

Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz moved past Nikola Mektic and John Peers 6-4, 4-6, 10-5 and Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos defeated Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler 6-4, 7-6(3).

Jamie Murray and Michael Venus, currently 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, beat Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 1-6, 10-6.