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Few players love competing at Qi Zhong Stadium more than Diego Schwartzman. In his last Center Court outing in Shanghai, the Argentine tested Roger Federer in a tight second-round clash.
"I always remember that match," said Schwartzman of their 2017 encounter. "I did so well that time. I was young and it was a different time."
But fighting spirit is still strong for the 31-year-old, who persisted for two hours and 48 minutes against Luca Van Assche to book his place in the 2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters second round.
Drawing on his vast experience against the talented 19-year-old, Schwartzman emerged with a 5-7 6-3 6-2 win.
"It was a tough match. From the beginning I had chances. He was playing very good," Schwartzman said. "I had too many chances … no easy points and then he did the comeback too many times."
At world No.130 compared to No.66 Van Assche, Schwartzman recognised the win as a potential career turning point. Entering Shanghai, his record stood at nine match wins against 22 losses on tour this year.
"Tennis is changing. Many young players are doing great," he commented. "I have to find a way. I'm the smaller one here, so I will try. I will try a little bit more."
A theme of marathon matches continued when Yosuke Watanuki faced rising Chinese star Shang Juncheng in a rematch of the semifinals of the recent ATP Challenger Tour tournament in Shanghai.
While the 79th-ranked Watanuki was a straight-sets winner on that occasion, he required two hours and 57 minutes to halt the charge of the determined 18-year-old on Thursday, before emerging with a 7-6(7) 4-6 6-4 victory. Setting the tone of an intensely tight contest, Watanuki and Shang exchanged early service breaks before the first set was decided in the tiebreak.
The second set followed a similar pattern - Shang breaking serve but unable to consolidate - but with another break in the 10th game, the teenager levelled the match. After dropping serve in the fifth game of the final set, Shang saved three match points before the 25-year-old Watanuki secured his maiden match win at the event.
It followed a day of firsts at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center, where few players were more delighted to progress than Lorenzo Sonego. With a straight-sets victory over Australian qualifier Philip Sekulic, the 28-year-old Italian also recorded his maiden match win in Shanghai.
"It is my first win in China so I'm really happy for that and I reached the second round in a Masters 1000 (tournament) and I'm really happy for that too," he said.
Sonego faced a little-known opponent in the 20-year-old Sekulic, who was contesting his first ATP Masters 1000 tournament. But with some pre-match preparation entailing some scouting on YouTube, Sonego took confidence from an overall accomplished performance.
"It's tough but we prepared for the match really well with my team," said Sonego, who recorded his 6-3 6-2 victory in one hour and 27 minutes. "I played really well today. I was feeling confident in my tennis."
Sonego recorded 13 aces among 29 total winners and saved all four break points that he faced against Sekulic. It provided a welcome confidence boost after a three-set loss to Ugo Humbert in the first round of last week's China Open in Beijing.
The next challenge for world No.59 Sonego is against, Frances Tiafoe, the No.10 seed in Shanghai. "He's an amazing talent. One of the best talents on tour. Obviously it's tough to beat him and now I want to enjoy this match (win) and I'll prepare tomorrow," Sonego said.
Arthur Fils, a 19-year-old Frenchman, can also take confidence from a successful Shanghai debut against Pavel Kotov, in which his 6-1 6-4 victory was far tighter than the score suggested.
Racing to 6-1 5-1 lead at Qi Zhong Stadium, Fils showed all the talent that has taken him from outside the top 300 into the world's top 50 within the space of a year. But he was forced to work hard when the 103rd-ranked Pavel won three straight games, with Fils at last securing his victory after an hour and 17 minutes on court.
"It was a great match against a great opponent," said the Frenchman, who registered 25 winners, compared to 10 from Pavel. "He played really good in the second set but I'm really happy about my game."
Several Australians also continued career-best seasons with maiden match wins in Shanghai. Aleksander Vukic is verging on a return to the top-50 (after a recent world No.48 peak) following his 6-4 7-6(7) victory over Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena.
Rinky Hijikata, currently ranked world No.75, is also expected to achieve a new rankings peak following a straight-sets win over the higher-ranked Laslo Djere.
Enjoying his first-ever trip to China, the Sydneysider is yet to drop a set in three Shanghai matches, after earning his main-draw entry through qualifying. The match play helped as Hijikata claimed a 7-6(4) 7-5 win over world No.36 Djere for his first top-50 win.
"I think it helps for sure. You get used to the conditions a little bit," he said. "It's always tricky playing your first match at a tournament - the conditions, balls and everything are fairly different week-in, week-out so just to be able to get a few reps in my qualifying matches was good and I think it held me in good steady for today."
Hijikata was among several players to maintain momentum from successful qualifying campaigns on Thursday. Chinese Taipei's Chun-Hsin Tseng, Frenchman Terence Atman as well as Kazakhstani players Mikhail Kukushkin and Beibet Zhukayev were other qualifiers to progress to Shanghai's second round.
J.J Wolf, Gregoire Barrere, Matteo Arnaldi, Sebastian Ofner, Botic Van De Zandschulp and Quentin Halys also advanced.
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