Karen Khachanov, playing at a career-high No. 24 in the ATP Rankings, picked up his first win at the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Sunday, beating American Steve Johnson 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-4. The Russian hit 17 aces and saved all three break points faced in the final two sets.

Khachanov will next meet either 10^th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who recently qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals, or Frenchman Gael Monfils.

In other day one action at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, German Peter Gojowczyk beat Jack Sock of the U.S. for the second time this season (Auckland) 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3. The German will next face Bosnian Damir Dzumhur or Marton Fucsovics of Hungary.

Chile’s Nicolas Jarry hit 18 aces and beat Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) to set a second-round meeting with fifth seed Marin Cilic, and Frenchman Jeremy Chardy swept German Maximilian Marterer 6-3, 7-6(5) and will next meet second seed Novak Djokovic.

Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo improved their chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals on Sunday, beating Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic 6-1, 6-4 to capture the China Open title.

“It means a lot for us,” said Melo. “I think it was a great week… we finished with the title. [There were] some ups and downs, but we are very happy. I love to play in China, I always feel good.”

Kubot and Melo, currently in eighth position in the ATP Doubles Race To London, lifted their 11th tour-level team trophy after 65 minutes, saving both break points they faced en route to victory. Kubot has now won 23 tour-level crowns, while Melo now owns 31 doubles titles.

“It was a very important tournament for us, especially right now with the ATP Doubles Race To London,” said Kubot. “It gives us a lot of confidence. We had four great matches here in Beijing.”

The Polish-Brazilian duo has clinched three titles this season, after previously triumphing in Sydney and Halle. Kubot and Melo, who own a 32-18 record this year, also improve their FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Marach and Pavic to 2-0, having won their only previous encounter, in dramatic fashion, in the 2017 Wimbledon final.

“We put together everything we worked on during the week… We started playing the tournament one way and we finished with the perfect match, especially against [Marach and Pavic]. We are very, very happy to have put it all together in the final,” said Melo.

Marach and Pavic, who have already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals, were aiming to lift their fifth trophy in their ninth tour-level final of the season. The top-seeded duo has won 45 of its 60 matches this season.

Kubot and Melo receive 500 ATP Doubles Ranking points and split €220,790 in prize money for earning their third trophy of the season. Marach and Pavic gain 300 points and share €108,100.

Kei Nishikori walked onto Arena 1 at the Mushushino Forest Sport Plaza on Sunday with hopes of joining former World No. 1s Stefan Edberg (4) and Pete Sampras (3) as the only players to capture at least three titles in Tokyo. But Russian Daniil Medvedev spoiled the party, defeating the Japanese star 6-2, 6-4 to lift his third trophy of 2018.

Medvedev claimed victory as a qualifier for the second time this year (also Sydney), extending the record to eight qualifiers who have triumphed on the ATP World Tour this season. From 2013-17, there were eight total qualifiers who lifted a trophy. And since 2004, only two players were victorious as a qualifier twice: Nicolas Mahut and Martin Klizan. In 2005, 2010-11 and 2016, there were no qualifier champions.

The World No. 32 is the first Russian to win the Tokyo crown, and he will become the No. 1 player from his country when the new ATP Rankings are released on Monday. Medvedev has come a long way since slipping to No. 84 after losing in the first round of an ATP Challenger Tour event in the first week of the season. He will climb to a career-best No. 22 with the 500 ATP Rankings points he earns.

The 22-year-old, who qualified for the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals, dominated on serve against the in-form Nishikori, who is one of the best returners in the world. Medvedev amazingly lost just five points on his serve, claiming 88 per cent of those points (38/43).

The Monaco resident did not drop serve in the quarter-finals, semi-finals or the championship match. And en route to claiming the title without dropping a set in the main draw, Medvedev held 45 of his 49 service games, a rate of 92 per cent. For winning his first ATP World Tour 500-level crown, Medvedev earns $384,120.

Nishikori remains one of the most in-form players, reaching the semi-finals of the US Open, the last four at the Moselle Open and now the final at his home event in his past three tournaments. The Japanese star, despite losing his eighth consecutive tour-level championship match, takes home $188,315 in prize money and adds 300 points to his tally.

Nishikori has come a long way since this time last year, when he was recovering from a wrist injury that kept him out from Montreal through the end of the 2017 season. he dropped as low as No. 39 this April, but is already back to No. 12.

1. Federer vs. Djokovic: Two-time champion Roger Federer and three-time champion Novak Djokovic will battle for No. 2 in the ATP Rankings this week at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. Federer leads Djokovic by 455 points entering the tournament. But the Swiss is defending 1,000 points as the reigning champion. Djokovic missed the 2017 event and is not defending any points.

2. Advantage Federer: As the top two seeds, Federer and Djokovic could meet in the Rolex Shanghai Masters final for the first time. Djokovic leads their head-to-head 24-22 overall, but Federer is 2-0 in Shanghai with straight-set wins in the 2010 and 2014 semi-finals. Since starting the 2018 season a career-best 17-0, Federer is 19-6 with only one title at the ATP World Tour 250 event in Stuttgart.

3. Race for No. 1: If he wins a record fourth Shanghai title, Djokovic will trail World No. 1 Rafael Nadal by just 35 points in the ATP Race to London. The Race becomes the year-end rankings following the Nitto ATP Finals. Both Djokovic and Nadal are trying to finish No. 1 for the fifth time. Djokovic is 65-9 overall in China with 10 championships and the Beijing Olympics bronze medal.

4. Don’t Forget Delpo: Besides Federer and Djokovic, Juan Martin del Potro can be the World No. 2 on 15 October. Del Potro hopes to end a 13-year run of Big Four dominance. Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray are the only men to have been ranked in the Top 2 since 25 July 2005.

5. Eyes on London: Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Del Potro have qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals. Four spots in the year-end championships remain and the next four men in line are playing at the Rolex Shanghai Masters: Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic, Kevin Anderson and Dominic Thiem.

6. 10 Quick Titles: Zverev’s next ATP World Tour title will be the 10th of his career. The 21-year-old German has until 20 April 2019 to join the likes of Nadal, Djokovic and Murray among the players to win 10 championships before turning 22. Federer won his 10th title following his 22nd birthday.

Read Draw Preview: Federer, Delpo Could Clash In Shanghai SF

7. Big Birthday: No Grand Slam men’s singles champions are currently under the age of 30 following Cilic’s 30th birthday on 28 September. There are three Grand Slam runners-up still in their twenties: Thiem (2018 Roland Garros), Milos Raonic (2016 Wimbledon) and Kei Nishikori (2014 US Open).

8. Twice as Nice: When Anderson played in the 2017 US Open championship match as a 31-year-old, he became the oldest first-time Grand Slam finalist since Niki Pilic at 1973 Roland Garros. Unlike Pilic, Anderson is not a one-Slam wonder. He reached the Wimbledon final this summer.

9. Thiem’s Travails: Thiem leads the ATP World Tour with 48 victories in 2018. But he’s yet to play this season in China, where he’s struggled to a 3-7 career record across appearances in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu. Thiem suffered second-round Shanghai losses in 2014, 2015 and 2017.

10. Next is Now: Nineteen-year-old #NextGenATP stars Denis Shapovalov and Alex de Minaur are among the Next Gen ATP Finals contenders competing in Shanghai. As of 1 October, Shapovalov has achieved a new career-high ranking 11 times this season and de Minaur has done so 16 times.