French Next Gen player Arthur Fils cruised past Pavel Kotov 6-1 6-4 in just 78 minutes on Stadium Court at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
Fils earned two breaks in the second and sixth games to win the first set 6-1. He raced out to a 4-0 lead with a double break in the first and third games. Kotov pulled one of the breaks back in the eighth game for 3-5, but Fils served out the second set with a hold to 30.
Fils, who was number 316 one year ago, has moved up to number 40 in the ATP Live Ranking after his win over Kotov. The Frenchman has a record of 15 wins to 13 defeats this year. He won his first ATP Tour title in Lyon and reached the semifinal in Hamburg. He will play against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round.
“I am delighted because I played against a great opponent. I have known him a long time. He plays great. I was pretty happy with my first set. My second was good also. He played some great points and great games so he came back a little bit, but at the end I finished the match in a good position, so I am really happy about it”, said Fils.
Quentin Halys beat Aslan Karatsev 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-2. Karatsev earned the first break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Halys broke straight back to draw level to 3-3. Halys earned two mini-breaks to take a 6-2 lead earning four set points. Karatsev pulled one break back in the ninth game for 4-6, but Halys closed out the tie-break with his third mini-break.
Karatsev broke serve in the second game to win the second set 6-2. Halys earned two breaks in the third and eighth games to win the third set 6-3.
Diego Schwartzman converted seven of the ten break points in his 5-7 6-3 6-2 win over Frenchman Luca Van Assche after 2 hours and 49 minutes. Schwartzman set up a second round against Jiri Lehechka. Both players traded breaks in the first two games of the first set. Van Assche earned a second break in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. Schwartzman broke straight back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Van Assche earned his third break to win the first set 7-5.
Van Assche converted his fourth break in the first game of the second set. Schwartzman broke straight back in the second game to draw level to 1-1. The Argentine player earned his second break in in the eighth game to win the second game 6-3.
Van Assche broke serve in the second game of the third set to open up a 3-0 lead. Schwartzman came back by winning six consecutive games to close out to win the third set 6-3.
Schwartzman has won his first match since Wimbledon 2023, where he beat Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round.
Lorenzo Sonego beat Philip Sekulic 6-3 6-2. Sonego hit 13 aces and did not make any double faults. Sekulic saved two break points in the fourth game. Sonego broke serve in the sixth game and held his next service games to win the first set 6-3. Sonego fended off two break points in the second game before breaking serve in the third game. Sonego broke for the second time at love and saved a break point in the next gameto hold serve at deuce.
Matteo Arnaldi came back from one set and a break down to beat Alexei Popyrin 4-6 6-3 6-4. Arnaldi set up a second round match against Jan Lennard Struff.
Popyrin broke serve in the third game to win the first set 6-4. The Australian player went up a set and a break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead after a double fault from Arnaldi. The Italian player converted his third break back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Arnaldi broke serve in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead and served out on his fourth set point.
Arnaldi broke twice in the third and fifth games to take a 4-1 lead. Popyrin pulled one break back in the eighth game for 3-5. Arnaldi served out the win on his second match point with a drop-shot.
French Next Gen player Terence Atmane beat Jordan Thompson 6-3 3-6 6-1 on his Masters 1000 debut. Atmane has moved up to 12th in the Live Race to the Next Gen Final in Jeddah. The Frenchman won two ATP Challenger titles in Zhangjiagang and Guangzhou.
Van de Zandschulp beat Christopher O’Connell 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-4. Van de Zandschulp earned two breaks in the third and seventh games to win the first set 6-2. The Dutch player broke serve in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead earning a chance to serve for the match. O’Connell broke straight back in the 12th game to set up a tie-break. Van de Zandschulp earned two mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-2. O’Connell broke in the fifth game to open up a 4-2 lead. Van de Zandschulp came back by winning four games to clinch the third set 6-4 setting up a second round match against Ugo Humbert.
Van de Zandschulp lost the ATP 250 tournament final in Munich against Holger Rune after holding four match point.
