Denis Shapovalov drops 2nd-round match to top-ranked Djokovic

Canada's Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime lost second-round singles matches Wednesday at the Shanghai Masters.

Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., dropped a 6-3, 6-3 decision to top-ranked Novak Djokovic while sixth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Auger-Aliassime 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) for the Greek's first win in six attempts over the Montreal player.

Djokovic is the top seed and defending champion at the ATP Tour event.

"It's nice to be back," he said. "And also, it feels very good to play as well as I did today. I knew that Denis is very dangerous player. If he has time, if he's feeling the ball well, it can be a tough match."

WATCH | Defending champ Djokovic bounces Shapovalov:

Shapovalov falls to Djokovic in Shanghai second round

5 years ago

Duration 1:06

Novak Djokovic downed Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of the Shanghai Masters.

Auger-Aliassime and Tsitsipas have met three times on the court this season, with the other three games on the ITF junior circuit.

"Great. Very nice," said Tsitsipas, when asked how it felt to finally beat the 19th-ranked Auger-Aliassime. "I did things differently this time, but I prefer not to say what I did differently."

WATCH | Tsitsipas finally defeats Auger-Aliassime:

Tsitsipas finally defeats 'most difficult opponent' Auger-Aliassime

5 years ago

Duration 1:01

After losing all five matches against Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime dating back to their junior days, Stefanos Tsitsipas finally beat him 7-6(3), 7-6(3) in the Shanghai Masters second round.

Auger-Aliassime prevails in doubles

In doubles play, Auger-Aliassime and Italy's Matteo Berrettini posted a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 10-4 first-round victory over Croatia's Nikola Mektic and Franko Skugor.

Fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev advanced to the round of 16 with a 7-6 (13), 7-6 (3) win over French qualifier Jeremy Chardy. Zverev, who served 21 aces, saved three set points in the first-set tiebreaker. He won that tiebreaker on his sixth set point.

"It was a great tiebreaker obviously," Zverev said. "We both served incredibly well and didn't hit a lot of second serves ... Against Jeremy I always knew it was going to be tough especially on a surface like that, which is lightning fast. I think it's the fastest surface on tour."

Chardy has now lost 11 consecutive matches against top 10 opponents dating back to when he defeated then fourth-ranked Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria at the 2018 Miami Masters.

American John Isner beat Lucas Pouille of France 7-5, 6-3 and American Taylor Fritz fell to seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-2, 6-4.