Birthday Boy Ben Shelton Cruises Into Shanghai Masters Third Round

U.S. Open runner-up Ben Shelton celebrated his 24th birthday on Friday by advancing to the third round of the Shanghai Masters with a 6-3, 7-6(6) win over Daniel Altmaier in the ATP Masters 1000 event. Shelton played for the United States in the Davis Cup after the U.S. Open, losing both his singles matches, after withdrawing from the Laver Cup team event.Top seed Alexander Zverev, who beat Shelton in four sets in the U.S. Open final at Flushing Meadows, defeated Chinese wild card Wu Yibing 6-4, 7-6(4).

Novak Djokovic, who won the China Open on Tuesday for the 102nd title of his career, was scheduled to play a night match against Hubert Hurkacz.

Ninth-seeded Alex de Minaur advanced via walkover after his opponent, Alex Molcan, withdrew with an undisclosed ailment. De Minaur had been forced to retire with an adductor injury in the China Open final against Djokovic.

Qualifier Rei Sakamoto stunned 23rd-seeded Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4.

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew from Shanghai this week after announcing he would miss the remainder of the 2026 season due to a right knee injury. Djokovic said on Thursday that he plans to reach out to Sinner regarding his injury-plagued season.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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