SHANGHAI, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Taylor Fritz of the United States overcame French player Terence Atmane 7-6(4), 7-6(5) to secure an opening victory in their resumed match at the ATP Shanghai Masters on Monday.
After a rain delay on Saturday, the match resumed with Fritz leading 4-3 on serve. Following a first-set tie-break win, the American aimed for a swift victory by extending his lead to 4-2 in the second set. However, Atmane demonstrated resilience, pushing the contest into another tie-break, which Fritz ultimately won.
"I think his ability to basically hit a winner from anywhere on the court made it very tough. Because sometimes I almost felt like if I wanted to be the aggressor in the rally, I had to go on when I maybe didn't want to go on," said Fritz.
Another American, Frances Tiafoe, enjoyed a smoother win, defeating Zhou Yi 6-2, 6-4, which eliminated the last Chinese player from the men's singles.
Tiafoe praised 19-year-old Zhou for his progress, saying "He played a good match, obviously it seemed pretty one-sided, but the second set was very tough."
"This was my first time playing a top-20 player. In the second set, I felt I could hold on during long rallies, but the experience makes the difference, which allowed him to win so easily," Zhou reflected on the match.
Elsewhere, Holger Rune of Denmark defeated Italian Matteo Berrettini 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, while Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov sealed a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Belgium's Zizou Bergs to enter the third round. ■
