Birthday boy and US Open finalist Ben Shelton advances at the Shanghai Masters
United States' Ben Shelton wipes his face after a point against Czechia's Jakub Mensik during the Davis Cup second round qualifier match between the Czech Republic and the United States, in Prague, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
SHANGHAI (AP) — U.S. Open runner-up Ben Shelton celebrated his 24th birthday Friday by advancing to the third round of the Shanghai Masters with a 6-3, 7-6 (6) win over Daniel Altmaier in the ATP 1000-level tournament.
Shelton played Davis Cup for the United States after the U.S. Open, losing both his singles matches, after withdrawing from the Laver Cup team event.
Top-seeded Alexander Zverev, who beat Shelton in the final in four sets at Flushing Meadows, was scheduled to play Chinese wild-card entry Wu Yibing in the next match on the main Stadium Court at Shanghai.
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Birthday boy and US Open finalist Ben Shelton advances at the Shanghai Masters
United States' Ben Shelton wipes his face after a point against Czechia's Jakub Mensik during the Davis Cup second round qualifier match between the Czech Republic and the United States, in Prague, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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SHANGHAI (AP) — U.S. Open runner-up Ben Shelton celebrated his 24th birthday Friday by advancing to the third round of the Shanghai Masters with a 6-3, 7-6 (6) win over Daniel Altmaier in the ATP 1000-level tournament.
Shelton played Davis Cup for the United States after the U.S. Open, losing both his singles matches, after withdrawing from the Laver Cup team event.
Top-seeded Alexander Zverev, who beat Shelton in the final in four sets at Flushing Meadows, was scheduled to play Chinese wild-card entry Wu Yibing in the next match on the main Stadium Court at Shanghai.
Novak Djokovic, who won the China Open on Tuesday for a 102nd career title, was scheduled to play a night match Friday against Hubert Hurkacz.
In other early results Friday in Shanghai, ninth-seeded Alex de Minaur advanced to the third round on a walkover when his opponent, Alex Molcan, retired with an undisclosed ailment. De Minaur had to retire with an adductor injury in the China Open final against Djokovic.
Also Friday, qualifier Rei Sakamoto beat 23rd-seeded Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4.
No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew from Shanghai this week when he announced he was taking the rest of 2026 off due to a right knee injury. Djokovic said Thursday he plans to reach out to Sinner about his injury-plagued season.
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