Yibing Wu, China’s top young male player, won his first ATP World Tour match on Monday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. The 18-year-old beat countryman and fellow wild card Zhe Li 7-6(5), 6-2 at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event.

“I am very happy to win my first match in ATP World Tour. This is definitely my best performance in the past couple months,” Wu said. “Li Zhe was playing well from the beginning, putting me in very stressful situations. But I still managed to turn this around. So I am very pleased about it.”

The 2017 US Open junior boys’ champion had been 0-5 in ATP World Tour matches, including recent back-to-back losses at the Chengdu Open in Chengdu and the China Open in Beijing. He will next meet eighth seed Kei Nishikori, Asia’s biggest male tennis star, who reached the final of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018 on Sunday (l. to Medvedev).

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“I am very excited to have a chance to play Nishikori next round,” Wu said. “[Playing] against a top player like Kei is something I always look forward to. As a younger player, I have nothing to lose. Just hoping that I can bring out my best to this match.”

In the beginning of the 2018 season, few, perhaps even Novak Djokovic himself, would have thought the Serbian would be vying to take over the top spot in the ATP Race To London in October.

Djokovic lost to Taro Daniel of Japan and Frenchman Benoit Paire in back-to-back hard-court tournaments in March (Indian Wells, Miami). The Serbian began 2018 with a 6-6 record.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-ups at the Rolex Shanghai Masters and vote for the players you think will win!
Djokovic v Chardy | Shapovalov v Basilashvili | Cilic v Jarry

Yet if Djokovic wins his fourth Rolex Shanghai Masters title this week, he will be within 35 points of claiming the top spot in the Race from Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who’s still nursing a knee injury that forced him to withdraw from his US Open semi-final.

“I am really glad that I put myself in a position to compete for No. 1 of the world. And maybe four, five months ago, that was looking a little bit far from reach, but with the recent results, I put myself in a pretty decent position to fight for No. 1, year-end No. 1, which of course is always one of the ultimate goals that you have as a professional tennis player,” Djokovic said.

The Serbian has won 13 consecutive matches, dating back to his Western & Southern Open title in Cincinnati, where he achieved his Career Golden Masters, and at the US Open, where he won his 14^th Grand Slam, tying Pete Sampras for third place on the all-time list.

He currently has 6,445 points in the Race, and with another 1,000 from winning Shanghai, Djokovic could have 7,445, just 35 from Nadal’s 7,4580. Djokovic faces Jeremy Chardy on Tuesday. The Serbian leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 11-0.

See Who’s Chasing Rafa, Novak In The ATP Race To London

“He’s a great guy. I get along very well with him,” Djokovic said. “I think what I did well in the past in our matchups, I managed to neutralise his first serve, and I think also take advantage of his second serve and try to be consistent on my service games, move him around the court, because he’s not the best mover forward, backwards, so I try to expose his weaknesses, in a way, look for the backhand, but obviously his forehand is lethal if he gets the good rhythm on it.

“So I will try to approach things and execute hopefully tactically well.”

Borna Coric withstood the power of Swiss wild card Stan Wawrinka, who continues to grow in confidence on his comeback from knee surgery, for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 first-round victory in just under two hours on Monday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

Coric, the No. 13 seed from Croatia, saved two break points at 3-3 in the second set and won three of the first four games in the decider to complete his 32nd match win of the season, which includes the Gerry Weber Open in Halle (d. Federer) — his second ATP World Tour crown. It was Coric’s first victory in his fourth meeting against former World No. 3 Wawrinka.

The 21-year-old will next challenge American qualifier Bradley Klahn, who has qualified for his third straight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament and held his nerve to beat Australian Nick Kyrgios.

World No. 93 Klahn recorded just his fourth tour-level win of the year over Kyrgios 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in 78 minutes, winning five straight games from 4-4 in the second set to 3-0 in the decider. Klahn won 82 per cent of his first-service points and struck 18 aces, with Kyrgios hitting 14 aces and five double faults.

Elsewhere, in one of the final matches of the day, Andreas Seppi defeated Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-4 in 83 minutes. He awaits the winner of 11th-seeded Briton Kyle Edmund and Filip Krajinovic of Serbia. In an all-Chinese matchup, Yibing Wu beat Zhe Li 7-6(5), 6-2.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, who last week qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals in November, lived to fight another day on Monday when the 10th-seeded #NextGenATP star worked his way past France’s Gael Monfils at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. The 20-year-old Greek triumphed 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 22 minutes for a second-round meeting against Russia’s Karen Khachanov.

Tsitsipas saved three set points on serve at 5-6 in the first set, prior to winning the first six points of the tie-break, and later broke Monfils in the eighth game of the decider in their first FedEx ATP Head2Head clash. Former World No. 6 Monfils responded immediately to get back to 4-5, but then dropped to 15/40 and served his fifth double fault of the match to hand Tsitsipas his 34th victory of the season (34-24).

Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, the 2016 finalist (l. to Murray), knocked out #NextGenATP Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-3, 6-4 to improve to a 29-17 record on the season, which includes the ASB Classic (d. Del Potro) and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (d. Pouille). Bautista Agut will next face American qualifier Mackenzie McDonald, a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victor over Canadian No. 14 seed Milos Raonic. Rublev is currently in seventh position in the ATP Race To Milan for a spot at the Next Gen ATP Finals in November. 

Former World No. 11 Sam Querrey struck 14 aces and lost five of his first-service points (34/39) for a 66-minute victory over ninth-seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who had won their past two matches. Querrey now faces fellow American Taylor Fritz, who was also impressive on serve – with 14 aces and 40 of 48 first-service points won – in a 6-3, 7-6(3) win over the experienced Dutchman Robin Haase in 81 minutes. Fritz, in sixth position in the #NextGenATP battle for a Milan spot, reached the BNP Paribas Open fourth round (l. to Coric) in March.

Elsewhere, Australia’s Matthew Ebden defeated fifth-placed #NextGenATP Frances Tiafoe 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 50 minutes and will now challenge sixth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem, who is a contender for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in November.

A LOOK BACK
Abierto GNP Seguros (Monterrey, Mexico): Next year, David Ferrer will write the final chapter of his storied career, as the former World No. 3 hangs up his racquet after 18 illustrious seasons. On Sunday, the Spaniard made a statement in his last tournament of 2018, lifting the trophy at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Monterrey.

In what was the oldest final in Challenger history, the 36-year-old Ferrer ousted 39-year-old Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4, not facing a break point throughout the 69 minute encounter. It was the sixth meeting between the two veterans (Ferrer leads 5-1) and first outside of the ATP World Tour.

Ferrer, who improved to 6-0 in finals on the Challenger circuit, has now lifted a combined 33 trophies between the ATP World Tour and ATP Challenger Tour. He was a force all week long at the Club Sonoma, dropping just one set and earning the appreciation of the Monterrey faithful with his tenacity and relentless aggression.

Karlovic, meanwhile, is hoping to give one last push to return to the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings. He rises to No. 118 after becoming the oldest player to reach a Challenger final at 39 years, 7 months. He smashed the record by nearly a year, with Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo previously reaching the 2016 Qingdao final at the age of 38 years, 8 months.

In his final tournament of 2018, @DavidFerrer87 walks off the court a champion.

The ?? reigns in Monterrey, ousting Ivo Karlovic 63 64 for the @Abierto_GNP title. pic.twitter.com/iEWrOxrxoO

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) October 8, 2018

Campeonato Internacional de Tenis (Campinas, Brazil): Chile’s Christian Garin streaked to his second ATP Challenger Tour title in convincing fashion on Sunday. The 22-year-old was nearly flawless in reeling off 10 sets in a row to lift the trophy in front of a sold-out crowd in Campinas.

The second-highest ranked Chilean, Garin rises to a career-high No. 121 in the ATP Rankings. His return to the winners’ circle was worth the wait, as he earned his first victory in nearly two years (Lima 2016).

Brazil’s lone tournament on the circuit was a party from start to finish, as fans flooded the Sociedade Hipica de Campinas all week to catch the future of men’s tennis. Top seed Pablo Cuevas was stunned by 20-year-old Ulises Blanch in the first round and US Open junior champ Thiago Seyboth Wild continued his transition to the pros, as the Brazilian teen reached his first Challenger quarter-final.

Stockton Challenger (Stockton, California, USA): Lloyd Harris dominated the field in Stockton to claim his second ATP Challenger Tour title, defeating fellow #NextGenATP Marc Polmans 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday. Two months ago, he became the first South African to lift a trophy in five years. Now, the 21-year-old proved that he’s not done celebrating crowns. 

Harris dropped just one set all week, earning impressive wins over an in-form Christopher Eubanks, top seed Jordan Thompson and eighth seed Polmans. He joins as exclusive club in becoming just the third #NextGenATP with multiple titles this year, in addition to Jaume Munar and Michael Mmoh.

And most importantly, Harris is up to a career-high No. 113 in the ATP Rankings and rises four spots to 10th in the ATP Race to Milan. Having resided in 20th place prior to his triumph in Lexington, he is now firmly in contention to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals.

?? @lloydharris63 is the champion in Stockton, claiming his second #ATPChallenger title of the year with a 62 62 win over Polmans.

Joins Jaume Munar and Michael Mmoh as #NextGenATP with multiple ? in 2018 pic.twitter.com/YSnqY9k0yl

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) October 8, 2018

Firenze Tennis Cup (Florence, Italy): Pablo Andujar has fast become a strong candidate for Comeback Player of the Year in the ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon. Eight months ago, the 32-year-old was sitting outside the Top 1800 as he began his comeback from multiple elbow surgeries.

But now, Andujar is back and looking stronger than ever. On Sunday, the former World No. 32 notched his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the year, beating Marco Trungelliti 7-5, 6-3 at the inaugural tournament in Florence, Italy. In fact, he earned two wins in one day to lift the trophy after rain washed out Saturday’s semi-finals. He rises to the precipice of a Top 100 return, soaring to No. 103 in the ATP Rankings. Considering where the Spaniard was at the start of the year, it is truly remarkable what he is achieving.

Almaty II Challenger (Almaty, Kazakhstan): Three players became multiple winners on the ATP Challenger Tour this week, as Denis Istomin joined Harris and Andujar with his second title of 2018. The Uzbek rallied past Nikola Milojevic 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-2 in a marathon two hours and 41 minutes to prevail in Almaty.

Istomin added to his victory at the $150,000 event in Chicago, earning consecutive comeback wins to triumph. The 32-year-old returns to the Top 100, rising 16 spots to No. 87 in the ATP Rankings.

A LOOK AHEAD
There are five tournaments on three continents coming up, with the $125,000 Milex Open in Santo Domingo highlighting the slate. Defending champion Victor Estrella Burgos will face second seed Federico Delbonis in a blockbuster opening round encounter.

Meanwhile, in Fairfield, the Northern California swing concludes with Jordan Thompson, Lloyd Harris, Noah Rubin and Reilly Opelka leading the charge. Monterrey finalist Ivo Karlovic is seeded seventh.

In Ortisei, Italy, fourth seed Lorenzo Sonego is the defending champ, while in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, two-time winner Denis Istomin seeks to prevail once again on home soil. And in Barcelona, the inaugural Sanchez-Casal Mapfre Cup features Roberto Carballes Baena, Pablo Andujar, Tommy Robredo and #NextGenATP stars Nicola Kuhn and Pedro Martinez as home hopes looking to take home the title.