Rublev Beats Coric In Shanghai; Isner Tops De Minaur

Andrey Rublev extended his perfect FedEx ATP Head2Head record to 3-0 over last year’s runner-up Borna Coric, the No. 12 seed from Croatia, on Tuesday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

The Russian hit 15 aces and lost just four of his first-service points (34/38) to beat Coric, the recent St. Petersburg Open finalist, 6-4, 7-6(4) in one hour and 36 minutes.

The 21-year-old Russian will next face Australia’s John Millman, who knocked out Guido Pella of Argentina 6-3, 7-5 in one hour and 51 minutes. Millman was runner-up to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships on Sunday.

[WATCH LIVE 1]

Elsewhere, John Isner denied Alex de Minaur the opportunity to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals in November at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. Isner did not face a break point in a serve-dominated 7-6(1), 6-4 win over 81 minutes, which saw the American strike 18 aces.

The No. 16 seed played a perfect first-set tiebreak and broke De Minaur in the ninth game of the second set. With victory, Australian De Minaur would have clinched his spot at the 21-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held from 5-9 November in Milan.

In the second round, Isner will now challenge France’s Lucas Pouille, who recovered from a set and 0-3 deficit to overcame Chinese wild card Zhe Li 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 12 minutes.

American’s Reilly Opelka, who lost to Millman in the Tokyo semi-finals on Saturday, was as equally impressive on serve, hitting 12 aces and losing four first-service points (31/35) in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Dusan Lajovic of Serbia in 65 minutes. Opelka now prepares to face eighth-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, the 2016 Shanghai finalist (l. to Murray).

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/30WCLKK