Hubert Hurkacz knocked out Novak Djokovic, No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev survived a stumble and Ben Shelton won on his 24th birthday during an eventful Friday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
Poland’s Hurkacz, who won the ATP 1000 tournament in 2023, dropped the 10th-seeded Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 for his first win in nine career attempts against the Serbian star. He needed only 87 minutes to eliminate the 39-year-old Djokovic, who appeared to struggle physically while playing his sixth match in 10 days.
“It’s a special night. I’ve been playing Novak for like seven years, so it’s been unsuccessful but (he has been) such a great champion for so many years,” Hurkacz said after his second-round triumph.
“… It’s a very difficult ask to play against him, but also it is a pleasure for me to share a court with him, to play such a legend of the sport.”
Hurkacz hammered 13 aces, saved both break points he faced and posted a 32-11 advantage in winners against Djokovic, who won his 102nd ATP Tour title on Tuesday in Beijing.
“Definitely it was very important at the start to stay there with Novak, because if he gets ahead, he presents such a great level and it’s not easy to come back,” Hurkacz said. “Then towards the end of course I was feeling some nerves. It’s not my first time leading by a break in a set against Novak so I was trying to stay focused on my things, what I needed to do.”
Hurkacz’s third-round opponent will be Chinese wild card Yi Zhou, who outlasted No. 24 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 7-6 (7), 3-6, 7-6 (1) in 2 hours and 28 minutes.
Zverev battled past another Chinese wild card, Yibing Wu, for a 6-4, 7-6 (4) win in 95 minutes. The German was leading 6-4, 5-5 and had a break point in the second set when he stumbled and appeared to injure his left ankle before getting back on his feet and finishing the match without taking a medical timeout.
“He hits every ball as hard as he can, so the match doesn’t depend on you too much apart from your serve,” Zverev said. “… I am pleased to have got through in straight sets.”
The third-seeded Shelton celebrated his birthday with a 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory against Germany’s Daniel Altmaier. Up next for him is Frenchman Arthur Gea, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 winner against 30th-seeded countryman Ugo Humbert.
Also moving safely to the third round were No. 7 Frances Tiafoe, No. 9 Alex de Minaur of Australia, No. 13 Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic, No. 16 Brandon Nakashima, No. 19 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, No. 21 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, No. 25 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain and No. 26 Karen Khachanov of Rusia.
France’s Adrian Mannarino upset No. 6 Flavio Cobolli in three sets. Also shown the door were No. 23 Andrey Rublev of Russia and No. 27 Alexander Blockx of Belgium.
–Field Level Media
