It was a day of contrasts as second matches commenced at the 2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters. While Casper Ruud underlined his top-10 credentials as he managed a match of momentum swings with Yoshihito Nishioka, third seed Holger Rune was eliminated in straight sets.
Making his Shanghai debut at the Qi Zhong stadium, No.8 seed Ruud knew his best tennis was required against Nishioka. They'd claimed one win each in two previous matches, with his world No.48 opponent the winner of their most recent encounter in Seoul last year.
The tight margins were clear as the first set extended almost an hour. While Ruud claimed the first service break in the fourth game, Nishioka recovered it three games later; the Japanese player saved a set point in the 10th game, before Ruud at last secured the opener as he converted another break point in the 12th game.
From there, momentum remained entirely with the Norwegian, who completed a perfect Shanghai debut with a 7-5 6-0 victory in an hour and 14 minutes.
"It was a tough long first set. A few things can happen when you play a long first set like this. You feel motivated to keep going in the second," said Ruud.
"And maybe with him … I know the feeling myself. You lose a tough first set in around an hour and then you feel like you worked hard for an hour just to lose the set and it feels like you have to climb a very, very high mountain to kind of turn a match around."
While Ruud prepares for a third-round meeting with No.29 seed Christopher Eubanks - a three-set winner over Yannick Hanfman on Friday - Rune's stay in Shanghai ended with an inspired performance from Brandon Nakashima.
At world No.122, the 22-year-old American is ranked significantly lower than No.5 Rune, but Nakashima made a mockery of the contrasting numbers as he achieved a 6-0 6-2 victory in little more than an hour.
"I'm definitely happy with the level that I'm playing at," said Nakashima, who was also a winner over Rune in the only match they'd contest at the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2021.l
"Maybe it wasn't his best tennis today out here, but I was just focusing on myself out there; controlling what I could control."
There as another upset as world No.91 Fabian Marozsan claimed a straight sets win over Alex de Minaur. The Australian arrived in Shanghai at a new career-high world No.11 ranking but couldn't quite get his athletic game firing as the 23-year-old Hungarian claimed a 6-3 7-5 win.
Felix Auger-Aliassime was also eliminated, with Marton Fucsovics digging deep in a gruelling 7-6(3) 4-6 6-3 victory over the No.14 seed from Canada.
After dropping the first set, a comeback always seemed possible for Auger-Aliassime, who forced a third set and saved three match points in an extended final game before Fucsovics secured his victory in just under three-and-a-half hours.
Yu Hsiou Hsu continued his stunning progress, with his straight-sets elimination of No.17 Lorenzo Musetti marking his fourth straight win this week. The world No.184 from Chinese Taipei came through qualifying and defeated top-50 Australian Max Purcell in his first main-draw match.
Dusan Lajovic also moved on at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament, with the Serbian holding 6-4 3-2 lead when Dutch opponent Tallon Griekspoor, and the No.23 seed, retired from their second round with injury.
