SHANGHAI — Nikoloz Basilashvili won his sixth straight match Tuesday, beating Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of the Shanghai Masters.
Basilashvili, who won the China Open last week and has moved up to a career-high ranking of No. 23, never faced a break point on his serve. The Georgian earned his first victory at the tournament after qualifying in 2015 and 2017.
On Sunday, Basilashvili upset fourth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro in the final in Beijing. Earlier this year, he became the first Georgian man to win an ATP title when he won in Hamburg — playing as a qualifier.
"It was a very good week for me in Beijing," Basilashvili said. "Since Hamburg I got a lot of confidence and that helped me in Beijing."
Basilashvili will next play fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev in the second round.
"It’s very important I won today after Beijing because it gives me a lot of confidence for a big match that I have," Basilashvili said. "Sascha is a very good player and I think it’s going to be a very difficult match for me, but very interesting.
"I am feeling very fresh and have a lot of energy so I’ll have no excuses."
Daniil Medvedev, who upset Kei Nishikori to win the Japan Open on Sunday, struggled but beat Chinese wild-card entry Zhang Ze 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 in the first round.
Medvedev has won all three finals he has appeared in this year and did so by beating the home favourite. Besides beating Nishikori in Tokyo, he defeated Alex de Minaur in Sydney and Steve Johnson in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Earlier, French qualifier Benoit Paire upset 15th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-4.
[relatedlinks]
