Fognini Sets Djokovic Clash In Shanghai

Fabio Fognini extended his dominant FedEx ATP Head2Head over Albert Ramos-Vinolas to 7-0 with a 7-5, 6-3 win on Sunday at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.

Fognini’s reward? A second round date with top seed and three-time champion Novak Djokovic, who owns a 7-0 mark of his own against the Italian. Fognini prevailed over Ramos-Vinolas in one hour and 33 minutes, converting six of 13 break chances.

The 29 year old joins Kevin Anderson, Janko Tipsarevic and Di Wu as first-round winners on Day One of the penultimate ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the year. Anderson will face sixth seed Gael Monfils after routing China’s Zhe Li 6-1, 6-3, while Tipsarevic continued his comeback campaign with a 6-2, 6-4 win over fellow 32-year-old Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Tipsarevic, who is battling back from foot surgery and a knee injury, has soared from outside the Top 600 of the Emirates ATP Rankings to his current position of World No. 173. He most recently reached the semi-finals at the Shenzhen Open, his first appearance in the final four of an ATP World Tour event in nearly four years.

Di Wu, meanwhile, scored one of the biggest upsets of the year on the ATP World Tour in edging 16th seed Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2). It was the Chinese wild card’s first win in six main draw appearances in Shanghai. The World No. 184 became the first Chinese to win an ATP Challenger Tour title earlier this year in Maui, U.S.A. (d. Edmund). He awaits either Gilles Simon or Pablo Carreno Busta next.

#NextGen Stars Edmund, Fritz Qualify
Kyle Edmund and Taylor Fritz will make their debut appearances at the Shanghai Rolex Masters after advancing through qualifying on Sunday. 18-year-old Fritz, the youngest player in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, opens against 36-year-old Stephane Robert, the second-oldest member of the Top 100. Edmund, a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 winner over Dusan Lajovic, will face Federico Delbonis.

Also qualifying for the main draw were Mikhail Youzhny, Mischa Zverev, Vasek Pospisil, Yuichi Sugita and Lukas Rosol.

Tsonga/Zimonjic Win Doubles Opener
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nenad Zimonjic won the lone doubles match on Sunday, defeating Americans Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-4. They advance to face fifth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram. Tsonga lifted the doubles trophy with Julien Benneteau in 2009, while Zimonjic finished runner-up with Michael Llodra in 2011.