The opening round at the 2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters is complete, and it wasn’t a good day for the men with six Grand Slams between them as both Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray failed to progress.
First to fall was Wawrinka, who had a trick opener against Dusan Lajovic, who’s had an impressive year, before Murray fell to Roman Safiulin, who is also a handful on hard courts.
There was also some homegrown success as wildcard Yunchaokete Bu took out Kecmanovic, with the Serb retiring in the third set, while Chinese number one Zhizhen Zhang was a comfortable winner against Richard Gasquet.
There were also wins for two players from Chinese Taipei (Taiwan if you prefer, which is correct, I have no idea) as qualifiers Yu Hsiou Hsu and Chun-Hsin Tseng progressed.
Round of 128 Rolex Shanghai Masters Results
Winner
Loser
Scoreline
Matteo Arnaldi
Alexei Popyrin
4-6 6-3 6-4
Terence Atmane (Q)
Jordan Thompson
6-3 3-6 6-1
Gregoire Barrere
Nuno Borges
6-2 6-2
Yunchaokete Bu (WC)
Miomir Kecmanovic
6-7(6) 6-2 2-1 (RET)
Arthur Fils
Pavel Kotov
6-1 6-4
Marton Fucsovics
Denis Yevseyev (Q)
6-4 6-2
Cristian Garin
Aleksandar Kovacevic (Q)
6-4 7-6(10)
Marcos Giron
Daniel Elahi Galan
6-4 6-2
Quentin Halys
Aslan Karatsev
7-6(4) 3-6 6-2
Yannick Hanfmann
James Duckworth (Q)
6-4 6-7(10) 6-3
Rinky Hijikata (Q)
Laslo Djere
7-6(4) 7-5
Yu Hsiou Hsu (Q)
Max Purcell
7-6(5) 4-6 6-4
Thanasi Kokkinakis
Fabio Fognini (WC)
6-2 6-4
Mikhail Kukushkin (Q)
Alexandre Muller
6-7(6) 6-3 6-2
Dusan Lajovic
Stan Wawrinka
6-4 7-6(7)
Fabian Marozsan
Arthur Rinderknech
7-6(6) 6-2
Mackenzie McDonald
Corentin Moutet
6-2 6-3
Jaume Munar
Rigele Te (WC)
6-2 6-4
Brandon Nakashima
Bernabe Zapata Miralles
6-1 7-6(3)
Yoshihito Nishioka
Daniel Altmaier
6-4 3-6 7-6(2)
Sebastian Ofner
Juan Pablo Varillas
7-6(3) 7-6(6)
Roman Safiullin
Andy Murray
6-3 6-2
Diego Schwartzman (WC)
Luca Van Assche
5-7 6-3 6-2
Lorenzo Sonego
Philip Sekulic (Q)
6-3 6-2
Dane Sweeny (Q)
Taro Daniel
6-2 6-3
Chun-Hsin Tseng (Q)
Alexander Shevchenko
3-6 6-3 6-2
Botic van de Zandschulp
Christopher O’Connell
6-2 6-7(2) 6-4
Aleksandar Vukic
Roberto Carballes Baena
6-4 7-6(7)
Yosuke Watanuki
Juncheng Shang (WC)
7-6(7) 4-6 6-4
J.J. Wolf
Pedro Cachin
3-6 6-3 6-4
Zhizhen Zhang
Richard Gasquet
6-1 6-2
Beibit Zhukayev (Q)
Stefano Napolitano (Q)
7-5 7-5
Lajovic Downs Wawrinka
Dusan Lajovic continued his fine form against Top 50 players this season, winning the eighth of his last nine matches against them thanks to a 6-4, 7-6(7) victory over Stan Wawrinka.
Stan only has a few quarter-finals to his name in Shanghai, so it’s one of his worst Masters 1000s. I was hopeful he’d be able to go on a decent run after an average last few events, but Lajovic proved too solid.
Murray Suffers Loss to Safiullin
Andy Murray’s poor run of form continued as he fell to Roman Safiullin 6-3 6-2 in the opening round.
Murray is a three-time champion in Shanghai, but past form counts for little, and Safiullin is currently playing his best tennis.
The Russian made the final in Chengdu, where Murray also lost in the first round, and he dominated the match from start to finish, with Murray only able to scramble from side to side, offering little else.
Quick Thoughts
This recap section is typically reserved for “other matches of note”, but in Shanghai, there are none.
When I scanned down the draw looking at the first-round matches, I struggled to see how it could be the first round of a Masters 1000; the quality on offer was dreadful.
Given how the qualifying draw looked equally poor, I was half expecting it, but it is still disappointing.
The reason? Expanding the draw to create a two-week-long Masters 1000 tournament to rake in more cash.
What’s the point when you have seen stronger fields in some Challengers this season?
Shanghai Masters Round of 64 Matches
Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs Gregoire Barrerre
Mikhail Kukushkin (Q) vs. Daniel Evans (30)
Grigor Dimitrov (18) vs Aleksandar Vukic
Bebit Zhukayev vs Karen Khachanov (13)
Frances Tiafoe (10) vs Lorenzo Sonego
Terence Atmane vs Nicolas Jarry (22)
Jiri Lehecka (27) vs Diego Schwartzman
Yosuke Watanuki vs Taylor Fritz (7)
Stefanos Tsitsipas (4) vs Rinky Hijikata (Q)
Botic van de Zandschulp vs Ugo Humbert (32)
Jan-Lennard Struff (21) vs Matteo Arnaldi
J.J. Wolf vs Cameron Norrie (15)
Tommy Paul (12) vs Sebastian Ofner
Arthur Fils vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (24)
Adrian Mannarino (31) vs Chun-Hsin Tseng (Q)
Quentin Halys vs Andrey Rublev (5)
Casper Ruud (8) vs Yoshihito Nishioka
Yannick Hanfmann vs Christopher Eubanks (29)
Tallong Griekspoor (23) vs Dusan Lajovic
Fabian Marozsan vs Alex de Minaur (11)
Hubert Hurkacz (16) vs Thanas Kokkinakis
Yu Hsiou Hsu (Q) vs Lorenzo Musetti (17)
Tomas Martin Etcheverry (28) vs Zhizhen Zhang
Brandon Nakashima vs Holger Rune (3)
Jannik Sinner (6) vs Marcos Giron
Dane Sweeney (Q) vs. Sebastian Baez (25)
Ben Shelton (19) vs Jaume Munar
Roman Safiullin vs Alexander Zverev (9)
Felix Auger-Aliassime (14) vs Marton Fucsovics
Mackenzie McDonald vs. Francisco Cerundolo (20)
Sebastian Korda (26) vs Yunchaokete Bu (WC)
Cristian Garin vs Daniil Medvedev (2)
What do you make of Shanghai so far? Are the extended Masters 1000s turning into a farce?