Top-seeded Alexander Zverev posted his 60th tour victory of the season but No. 3 seed Ben Shelton was ousted at the Rolex Shanghai Masters in China on Sunday.
Quentin Halys of France pushed Zverev, but the German survived to win 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3 to reach the fourth round.
World No. 4 Shelton, however, could not shake another Frenchman, Arthur Gea, who upset him 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) for the first Top 10 win of his career. Gea, 21, began the season at No. 241 and will rise to No. 48 with the latest win.
This is the first appearance for Gea in the main draw of a Masters 1000 event. He has one career tour win, achieved at the ATP 250 tournament in Los Cabos in July. He reached the fourth round at the U.S. Open in September, losing to Botic van de Zandschulp in five sets.
“It has been an incredible few weeks,” Gea said after the match. “I changed my game a lot. I am more confident on the court. It has been a really good year at the moment. I hope it keeps going.”
Both Gea and Shelton converted three of eight break chances, but there was no advantage to either player. Each break was followed by a break, keeping the players on serve and necessitating the two tiebreaks.
Afterward, Shelton said he wasn’t at his best in the two-hour, seven-minute match.
“I got outplayed today,” Shelton told reporters. “My body wasn’t ready.”
Shelton played in the Davis Cup last month but had not competed in a tour event since he lost to Zverev in the final of the U.S. Open. He chose not to play last week in Tokyo because of worries about his fitness.
Zverev, who has won eight ATP Masters 1000 events, is seeking his first win in Shanghai, where he reached the final in 2019 but lost to Russian Daniil Medvedev in straight sets. It took him two hours, 17 minutes to top Halys on Sunday.
Up next will be a fourth-round match against 19th-seeded Alexander Bublik, who defeated 16th-seeded Brandon Nakashima 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (5).
Seventh seed Frances Tiafoe was upset by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the 25th seed, who outlasted the American 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (6) in two hours, 48 minutes. Spain’s Davidovich Fokina set up a match with Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, who used 18 aces to top Yi Zhou of China in three sets.
Czech Jakub Mensik, the 13th seed, defeated 21st seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Mensik will face Gea in the fourth round.
Among other seeded players, No. 9 Alex de Minaur of Australia and No. 26 Karen Khachanov of Russia advanced in straight sets and will meet in the next round.
–Field Level Media
