Shanghai Masters: Fritz and Dimitrov Triumph in Games During the Rainy Second Round

Seventh-ranked Taylor Fritz and tenth-ranked Grigor Dimitrov were able to finish their second-round matches at the Shanghai Masters on Monday, two days after they began.

Rain caused play to be suspended at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena on Saturday. Fritz, the U.S. Open finalist, was leading Frenchman Terence Atmane 4-3 in the opening set when play was stopped. All matches on the outer courts were then cancelled until Monday.

With just one break of serve in the 122-minute encounter, the 26-year-old American defeated the No. 161-ranked Atmane 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) in two tiebreakers. In the third round, Fritz will take on Yosuke Watanuki, a qualifier from Japan.

Playing in his 100th Masters match, Dimitrov came back into the match on Monday with a set advantage over Zizou Bergs, but lost a break in the second set.

After the No. 73-ranked Belgian capitalised on his lead to win the second set, Dimitrov broke Bergs three times in response to losing one of his own service games, sealing the victory 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

In the third round, the 33-year-old Bulgarian will take on Alexei Popyrin, an Australian.

Along with these results, Tallon Griekspoor defeated Jordan Thompson, the 26th-seeded player, 6-3, 6-2, and Roman Safiullin defeated Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-2. Frances Tiafoe, the semifinalist at the U.S. Open, also defeated Zhou Yi of China.

Along with these results, Tallon Griekspoor defeated Jordan Thompson, the 26th-seeded player, 6-3, 6-2, and Roman Safiullin defeated Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-2. Frances Tiafoe, the semifinalist at the U.S. Open, also defeated Zhou Yi of China.