Shelton Shows He’s Plenty Motivated To Win, Succeed In Shanghai

Ben Shelton
Ben Shelton (photo: Florian Heer)

SHANGHAI/WASHINGTON, October 9, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

As Ben Shelton took Stadium Court on Friday afternoon for his opening-round match in the Rolex Shanghai Masters event against Daniel Altmaier, he exuded plenty of determination and self-motivation to do well as the 2026 season begins to wind down.

Shelton is particularly keen on earning a berth in the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, in which the top eight players qualify based upon their accumulative points earned during the 2026 ATP Tour season.

In his first match since losing the US Open final to Alexander Zverev last month, the World No. 4 and third-seeded Shelton, who celebrating his 24th birthday on Friday, defeated the 67th-ranked upset-minded Altmaier of Germany, 6-3, 7-6 (6), in one hour and 57 minutes for his 40th tour-level victory of the season. He hit 22 winners, including seven aces, and outpointed his opponent 77-62. In the third round, the American No. 1 will face No. 56 Arthur Gea of France, who upset No. 30 seed and fellow Frenchman Ugo Humbert, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

“I think it is a massive motivation,” Shelton said in a pre-tournament interview with ATP Media earlier this week. “I want to be there playing in the Final eight. I want end of year Top-5 finish for the first time. I think there are a lot of things to look forward to at the end of this year and I am just excited about the position I am in to be able to compete for something big at the end of the year. I think I am in a good position but I feel there is still a lot of work to do.”

Shelton made his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2025 but was winless in his three group stage matches. He will need to reach the semifinals at Shanghai in order to surpass his career-best season of 2024, in which he won 42 matches.

“I had my first big Masters breakthrough here,” Shelton recalled during his interview with ATP Media. “I had some great wins here. I think it is a special place. I think this is one of the best Masters tournaments on Tour. It is run so well. The Center Court is great and for me it has been a great tournament and I hope to build on some of the success I’ve had here and go a step further and have some real runs here in the future.”

Djokovic hits wall against Hurkacz, loses

Four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia, appearing in his 12th Rolex Shanghai Masters, brought his five-match winning streak onto Stadium Court Friday evening against 2023 Shanghai champion Hubert Hurkacz. He had never lost to the 34th-ranked Polish star in eight previous meetings dating back to 2019.

However, after winning the ATP 500 China Open crown on Tuesday for his 102nd tour-level title, the 39-year-old Djokovic hit a wall – mentally and physically – against the 2023 Shanghai champion. Hurkacz, 29, came alive and upset Djokovic, 6-4, 6-3, in an hour and 27 minutes on Stadium Court to advance to the third round. It was the eighth-straight win in Shanghai for Hurkacz dating back to his 2023 run to the title in the penultimate ATP Masters 1000 event on the ATP Tour calendar.

Hurkacz struck 28 winners – including 13 aces – and won 82 percent (36 of 44) of his first-serve points. He saved both break points he faced and converted two of five break-point chances against Djokovic. Hurkacz outpointed his 10th-seeded opponent, 67-52.

“It’s a special night. I’ve been playing Novak for like seven years, so it’s been unsuccessful but [he has been] such a great champion for so many years,” Hurkacz said during his on-court interview after improving his 2026 win-loss record to 26-19 with his third Top-10 victory of the season.

“Being on Tour, at the top, and he just won Beijing so it’s a very difficult ask to play against him. But, also, it is a pleasure for me to share a court with him, to play such a legend of the sport. 

“It’s a lot of fun, and then you also challenge yourself, to see where your level is.”

Djokovic was denied in his quest to complete the Beijing-Shanghai double for the fourth time in his career (2012-13, 2015) and to extend his event records for most wins and titles in Shanghai.

“I wasn’t close to what I was playing in Beijing. I’m slightly more tired, not fresh. Hubi was serving very big and, you know, I didn’t feel myself on the court in terms of feeling the ball. It’s super quick surface, completely different from Beijing,” Djokovic said during a mixed zone interview.

“Yeah, if you lose your serve, it’s enough to lose the match, just once per set. That’s what happened. It’s very difficult to return his serve, almost impossible, he was serving big. So, yeah, I didn’t adjust, and it was a really tough draw for me to play him in the first match here.”

Next, Hurkacz will face 277th-ranked Chinese wild card Zhou Yi in the third round. 

Top seed Zverev advances to third round

World No. 2 and top seed Alexander Zverev earned his ATP Tour-leading 59th victory of the season with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over 113th-ranked Chinese wild card Wu Yibing to advance to the third round. It was also Zverev’s 30th hard-court win of 2026.

The reigning Roland-Garros and US Open champion Zverev, who is playing in his eighth-straight Rolex Shanghai Masters event, outpointed Wu 70-57 during their one-hour, 35-minute contest on Stadium Court.  Zverev has previously won seven ATP Masters 1000 titles, but none since the Paris Masters in 2024.

There was cause for a brief scare when Zverev stumbled out wide after striking a backhand, leading 6-4, 5-5 and with break point on Wu’s serve. It appeared he tweaked his left ankle, but was able to get up and moved about without concern throughout the remainder of the second-round match.

During a pre-tournament interview with the ATP Tour website after arriving from Beijing, where he lost in the quarterfinals to eventual-champion Novak Djokovic on Sunday, Zverev said he has “big motivation to play and there are certain things I want to achieve and of course I am fighting for.

“For me, I enjoy playing tennis at the moment and hope that continues,” he said. “It is a talking point for everybody at the moment [the No. 1 ranking] but I am motivated to keep fighting for good things hopefully. The only thing I can control is what I do on the tennis court and my next match and that is what my focus is on each time.”

Zverev can clinch the ATP Year-End No. 1 in Shanghai if he reaches the semifinals. He can also clinch it during the Shanghai fortnight if Carlos Alcaraz or Ben Shelton lose during any round of the tournament.

Around the Rolex Shanghai Masters

• A pair of Americans – No. 7 seed Frances Tiafoe and No. 16 seed Brandon Nakashima – advanced to join No. 3 seed Ben Shelton in the third round. Tiafoe defeated Yannick Hanfmann of Germany, 6-4, 6-4, and Nakashima eased past Matteo Berrettini of Italy, 7-6 (4), 7-5. 

Three other Americans will play their second-round matches on Saturday: No. 11 seed Taylor Fritz, No. 14 seed Learner Tien and No. 31 seed Alex Michelsen.

• There was a quartet of second-round upsets Friday, including: World No. 7 and sixth seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy, who lost to Adrian Mannarino of France, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, after committing 42 unforced errors. Also, No. 23 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia fell to 137th-ranked Japanese qualifier Rei Sakamoto, 6-4, 6-4; No. 25 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy fell to 277th-ranked Chinese wild card Zhou Yi, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 7-6 (1); and No. 27 seed Alexander Blockx of Belgium lost to No. 48 Quentin Halys of France, 4-6, 7-6 (9), 6-4.

• Other second-round winners include: No. 9 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia, who advanced by walkover against Alex Molcan of Slovakia; No. 13 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia, who beat Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, 6-3, 6-3; No. 19 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, who eased past Tomas Machac of Czechia, 6-4, 7-6 (4), and No. 21 seed Francisco Cerundolo, who defeated Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin, 7-6 (5), 6-3.

 

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Also, No. 25 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, who beat Jenson Brooksby of the United States, 6-1, 6-3.; and No. 26 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia, who defeated Arthur Fery of Great Britain, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), in the longest match of the day at three hours and 29 minutes. 

Friday’s Shanghai Masters results

Saturday’s Shanghai Masters order of play

By the numbers

No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz is playing in his first ATP Masters 1000 event since reaching the Monte-Carlo final in April, after being sidelined due to a right wrist injury from April to August. He owns a 10-1 win-loss record since his return. The 23-year-old Alcaraz, who begins his quest for a first Rolex Shanghai Masters on Saturday against Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina, could become the first Spanish champion in the event’s history, where Spaniards hold a 0-4 record in finals.

“Quotable …”

“The top guys and seeds have their own locker rooms. There’s plenty of space, incredible high level of quality of food. Obviously, plenty of courts to train on, no issues there. Great stadiums. Great attendance. It has always been one of the best 1000 events on the tour. Our tour has always been proud of this tournament and this product that is created here over the years.

“It’s definitely one of the favorite tournaments for many players, including myself, on the tour, for all of the reasons that I mentioned. So, there’s always a willingness and somewhat of a need and a challenge for the organizers to meet the demands of players, their respective teams. To make sure that every year there’s some kind of improvement is, you know, something even better than the last year, where the players are able to feel like at home, at the end of the day, and have everything they need to perform as best as they can.”

– Four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic, during his pre-tournament news conference earlier this week, on the tournament’s innovation and improvement of facilities during the two decades he’s been coming to Shanghai.

 

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