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Daniil Medvedev picked up where he left off at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, with a second-round victory over Cristian Garin marking his sixth straight match win at the tournament.
Medvedev lifted the trophy in Shanghai when the ATP Masters 1000 tournament was last contested in 2019, and a business-like victory over the Chilean was the perfect way to settle any nerves as defending champion.
"Honestly, four years past, so (a) different feeling, but for sure some nerves because it's not easy to change tournaments," the No.2 seed said, having arrived in Shanghai after contesting an eighth final for 2023 in Beijing.
"The good thing is the confidence usually helps you, and that's what helped me to win today because, again, in terms of game, it's not easy, but the more matches I manage to win, and already this one is good, the better I'm going to play."
Medvedev's 6-3 6-3 progression marked his 60th match win, from 73 matches, for the season. He achieved his best match-winning record for a season with 63 wins in 2021.
"I don't think I care in a way how many wins I have in a season, but what I heard is that my record is 63 after the match, and that's pretty close, so I would be happy to beat it," Medvedev said, with his aim to add to that number against Sebastian Korda in the third round. "I love this court, I love this tournament, I love this city .. I hope I can stay here as long as possible."
Stefanos Tsitsipas is also delighted to return the Rolex Shanghai Masters, a tournament he first contested in 2017 as a teenage qualifier.
Ranked world No.131 at the time, the Greek signalled his potential with victory over Karen Khachanov in the first round. In a headline-grabbing run in 2019, he defeated Novak Djokovic to reach the semifinals.
"I definitely have good memories from that time and I enjoyed how I was trying to adapt and push my game to its limits," Tsitsipas, who went on to win his biggest career title at the ATP Finals in the following weeks, said.
Tsitsipas' affinity for the Qi Zhong Stadium was once again highlighted as moved smoothly past Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata on Saturday. Completing his 6-4 6-2 victory in one hour and 22 minutes, he maintained a perfect first-round record at this event.
The fast-rising Hijikata was notched up three straight-sets victories in Shanghai, but the world No.6 Tsitsipas stamped his authority from the outset. He held a pair of break points against Hijikata in the opening game and after converting two games later, soon held a 2-1 lead.
When Hijikata fought back to level for 4-4, Tsitsipas maintained his focus. He immediately broke back and served out the first set.
Momentum seized, he broke again in the fifth game of the second set and never looked back, winning five straight games and 10 consecutive points to complete a comprehensive win.
"All matches in the beginning of a tournament, it takes some time to get the pace and rhythm of how things flow and I was kind of there when I had to be," Tsitsipas said. "And after that, it was quite smooth was very confident and very sure of what I was doing and what I was following and it worked out pretty well."
Tommy Paul was another straight-sets winner on Saturday, the No.12 seed surrendering only three games as he defeated Sebastian Ofner in less than an hour.
In a near-perfect debut at the tournament, the American broke Ofner's serve in the opening game and seized full control; he secured eight games straight to complete the 6-3 6-0 victory.
"It was a good match," 12th-seeded Paul said of his clean performance, in which he recorded only two unforced errors against 12 winners. "I didn't miss too many balls today. I thought I served pretty well. From the first game of the match, I thought I was putting a lot of pressure on him. That was kind of the goal."
Fresh from lifting a ninth career trophy in Beijing, Jannik Sinner added to a successful day for seeds in Shanghai, with the No.6 seed claiming a 7-6(2) 6-2 victory over Marcos Giron.
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