Third seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori came back from one set down to beat Wimbledon champions Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara in the doubles final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters. Bolelli and Vavassori clinched their third ATP Tour title this season. The Italian doubles team have boosted their hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals. They are third in the ATP Race to Turin, 466 points ahead of fourth placed Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson.
Patten and Heliovaara broke serve in the fourth game to win the first set 6-3. Bolelli and Vavassori dropped their first set at this tournament.
Bolelli and Vavassori saved all break points they faced in the second set before breaking serve in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead.
Bolelli and Vavassori earned a first mini-break in the Match Tie-Break to take a 3-2 lead. Patten and Heliovaara pulled back on serve to draw level to 3-3. Bolelli earned two more mini-breaks to win the tie-break 10-6.
World number 46 Gael Monfils overcame Damir Dzumhur 6-3 6-4 to reach the second round of the singles tournament. Monfils hit 22 winners to extend his head-to-head series to 3-0.
Monfils eraned his first break point in the fifth game to a 3-2 lead. The Frenchman served out the first set in the 10thgame after saving four break points. Monfils converted his second break point in the first game. Dzumhur broke back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Monfils broke twice in the seventh and ninth games to win the second set 6-4.
Monfils is making his seventh appearance in Shanghai. The French veteran achieved his best result at this tournament in 2013 when he beat Roger Federer en route to the quarter final.
Monfils set up a second round match against Sebastian Baez.
“It was not easy. Damir is a really fast player. It was a little bit slower with these conditions. It was a little bit slower with these conditions, so it helped him stay in the points. I could no really power him off the court, but it also helped sometimes. So at the end of the day, I tried to focus on my game and us my serve and forehand as I can”, said Monfils.
Arthur Cazaux beat last week’s Hangzhou champion Marin Cilic 6-4 6-4 in 1 hour and 36 minutes to set up a second round match against his compatriot Ugo Humbert, who reached the final at the ATP 500 tournament in Tokyo. Monfils and Cazaux were two of four French winners on the first day at the Shanghai Masters 1000 tournament.
Cilic earned a break in the second game after six deuces at the start of the second set. Cazaux won five of the next six games with two breaks of serve to close out the second set 6-4.
Arthur Rinderknecht battled past Reilly Opelka 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in a match between two of the best servers on the ATP Tour.
Alexandre Muller came back from one set down to beat Luca Nardi 4-6 6-1 6-1.
Denis Shapovalov beat Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (10-8). Sonego earned his first game in the opening game to take a 3-1 lead. Shapovalov broke back in the sixth game with a half-volley to draw level to 3-3. Sonego saved two break points at 3-4 15-40. Sonego earned his first mini-break, but Shapovalov pulled back on serve to draw level to 1-1. Shapovalov went up a 4-3 with a second mini-break, but Sonego broke straight back to draw level to 4-4. Shapovalov earned his third mini-break to close out the tie-break 7-5.
Shapovalov went up a break in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead. Sonego broke straight back to draw level to 6-6 forcing the match to the tie-break. Both players traded breaks four times in the tie-break. Shapovalov wrapped up the win on his fourth match point.
Fabio Fognini battled past Luciano Darderi 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 in an all-Italian clash in 2 hours and 23 minutes. Fognini set up a second round match against number 11 seed Tommy Paul. Fognini broke serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Fognini did not convert a break point in the seventh games but he closed out the first set 6-4 after dropping just four points in his five service games.
Fognini earned an early break in the first game of the second set. The 2019 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters champion held serve in the second game at deuce and had to save a break point in the fourth game. Darderi broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Darderi went up a 2-0 lead with a mini-break. Fognini pulled back on serve to draw level to 2-2. Darderi earned a second mini-break to take a 4-2 lead, but Fognini broke back to draw level to 4-4. Darderi closed out the tie-break with a third mini-break.
Darderi saved a break point in the fourth game of the third set. Fognini fended off a break point in the fifth game at deuce and at 30-40 in the seventh game. Darderi saved a break point in the eighth game, but Fognini rallied from 15-30 to earn his third break point of the decider on his first match point.
Dutchman Botic Van der Zandschulp overcame Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (7-5) 6-2. Van de Zandschulp won 77% of his first serve points and fended off the only break point he faced. Both players went on serve en route to the tie-break. Van der Zandschulp earned the first mini-break to take a 3-1 lead. Carreno Busta pulled back on serve to draw level to 5-5, but Van der Zandschulp earned his second mini-break to win the tie-break 7-5. Van der Zandschulp earned his first break of the second set to open up a 3-0 lead. The Dutchman wrapped up the win with another break on his first match point.