Hurkacz serves 19 aces in Shanghai win as Tsitsipas advances

Hubert Hurkacz marked his first appearance at the Rolex Shanghai Masters since winning the 2023 title with a straight-sets victory over James Duckworth on Thursday. The Polish player struck 19 aces in a 6-3, 7-6(4) win that took 81 minutes, according to the ATP Tour report carried by the tournament's official website. The result put him into the second round against Novak Djokovic.

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The victory continued a productive Asian hard-court swing for the 29-year-old, who reached the Chengdu final and the Beijing semi-finals before arriving in Shanghai. His Beijing run ended when he retired during the second set against Alex de Minaur. Hurkacz said an adductor problem had affected him there, but that he was feeling better after recovery work ahead of Shanghai.

Djokovic is a four-time Shanghai champion and holds an 8-0 record against Hurkacz in their previous meetings. He arrives after taking his 102nd tour-level title in Beijing on Tuesday. Discussing the next round, Hurkacz said he would need to perform well on serve, from the baseline and on return to secure his first victory over the Serbian.

Stefanos Tsitsipas also progressed on Thursday, beating Belgian qualifier Kimmer Coppejans 6-3, 7-5 in the opening match on Stadium Court. The Greek player's serving figures were a notable part of his win: he lost only four of the 19 points played on his second serve, according to the Infosys ATP statistics cited in the report. He is now unbeaten in six opening matches at Shanghai.

Tsitsipas moved up five places to No. 38 in the live ATP rankings after the victory. His next opponent is 18th seed Luciano Darderi, whom he defeated in their only previous meeting, on grass at Halle last year. Tsitsipas said early starts had brought out some of his best tennis, pointing to his US Open first-round win over Arthur Fils.

Other Thursday winners included Juan Manuel Cerundolo and Jan-Lennard Struff, who each won 6-4, 6-4, against Nicolas Mejia and Martin Landaluce respectively. Matteo Arnaldi needed 52 minutes to beat qualifier Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-1. Those results earned Cerundolo a meeting with Carlos Alcaraz, Struff a match against Daniil Medvedev and Arnaldi a second-round contest with Taylor Fritz.