With five players already locking in their spots for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, Thursday’s action at the Shanghai Rolex Masters will see sixth seed Gael Monfils and No. 11 seed David Goffin square off in a third-round clash that is crucial for both of their chances to qualify for London for the first time.

Monfils is currently No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Race to London with 3,535 points, while Goffin is No. 11 with 2,465 points. The Frenchman is 665 points ahead of No. 9 Berdych in the Emirates ATP Race to London, while Goffin trails No. 8 Dominic Thiem by 740 points. The winner on Thursday will receive at least 180 Emirates ATP Rankings points for a quarter-final showing. The 90 points hinging on the outcome would be enough for Goffin to overtake Marin Cilic and break into the Top 10 of the race.

Goffin is on a run of form having finished runner-up last week at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2016, while Monfils has posted a 23-4 record since Wimbledon. The Frenchman leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry over Goffin 1-0, with the lone win coming this summer in the third round of the Rogers Cup. Goffin could rise as high as No. 7 by winning the championship on Sunday. Although the Belgian won his only two ATP World Tour titles more than two years ago at Kitzbühel and Metz in 2014, he will be highly motivated to continue closing the gap as he bids for a spot in London.

A banner year for Alexander and Mischa Zverev has only gotten better at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, where both brothers will be in third-round action. The Zverevs are the first siblings in the Round of 16 of an ATP Masters 1000 event since Olivier and Christophe Rochus at 2006 Miami. Mischa, 29, qualified for his ninth tour-level event of 2016, tying seven other players for the most in a single season since 1990. The German is scheduled to play Stockholm qualifying this weekend should he not beat Marcel Granollers and reach the semi-finals.

Alexander, 19, upset Stan Wawrinka in St. Petersburg last month to become the youngest player and first teenager to win an ATP World Tour title since 2008. With a victory over 2015 Shanghai finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Thursday, the #NextGen star would reach his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.

Another player seeking his maiden ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final is American Jack Sock, who faces fifth seed Milos Raonic on Union Pay 3. Raonic has won eight straight FedEx ATP Head 2 Head matches against Sock. If he makes it nine, the Canadian will have reached the quarter-finals of all nine ATP Masters 1000s in his career.

Three other men still in the Shanghai draw have already accomplished that feat: Top seed Novak Djokovic, second seed Andy Murray and Monfils. On Thursday, the defending champion Djokovic clashes with Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil, who has won back-to-back main draw matches this week for the first time all season. Murray meets Metz champion Lucas Pouille, who would rise to No. 13 in the Emirates ATP Race to London with his sixth Top 10 win of the season.

Seven of the 16 seeds were upset in the first or second round, leaving seven players who’ve reached no more than one ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final respectively: A. Zverev (0 QFs), M. Zverev (2009 Rome QF), Sock (0 QFs), Pospisil (2013 Montréal SF), Pouille (2016 Rome SF), Viktor Troicki (2011 Monte-Carlo QF) and Roberto Bautista Agut (2014 Madrid SF). Troicki and Bautista Agut will play a rematch of their Winston-Salem semi-final, which the Spaniard led by a set and 5-0 before surviving 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-2. Play concludes on Stadium Court with third seed Wawrinka meeting Gilles Simon, who like Pospisil, has lost his last 10 matches against Top 10 opponents. Simon defeated Wawrinka en route to the 2014 Shanghai final, but lost to the Swiss here in 2010.

The doubles quarter-finals begin on Thursday and include 2014 Shanghai champions Bob and Mike Bryan. Shanghai is the lone ATP Masters 1000 event that the Bryans have won only once. Should they capture the title without a walkover this week, the American twins will become the first doubles team to reach 1,000 victories. 

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares would pass Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, the No. 1 team in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race to London, by winning their Shanghai quarter-final on Friday. Murray and Soares have yet to play a point after receiving a first-round bye and a second-round walkover. A win in the quarter-finals would also make Soares the 50th World No. 1 in the 40-year history of the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings. Yesterday’s media notes incorrectly stated that Murray, not Soares, could become World No. 1 this week.

Camilo Ugo Carabelli had all the local support he could ask for in the biggest match of his young career at this week’s $50,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Buenos Aires.

The 17-year-old Buenos Aires native made his Challenger main draw debut on Monday against top seed Horacio Zeballos. Although he lost in straight sets, Ugo Carabelli said he relished the chance to compete against a player inside the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.

“It was terrific to play my first Challenger in Buenos Aires with my girlfriend, family and school friends in the crowd,” said Ugo Carabelli. “I couldn’t find my rhythm in the beginning, but then I relaxed and began to enjoy the game.”

Ugo Carabelli has focused solely on pro tournaments since May, competing exclusively on the ITF Futures circuit. Although he’s started to enjoy success at those events, he admitted not yet being used to facing established players like Zeballos.

“This was a very good opportunity for me because he has more experience and more speed,” said Ugo Carabelli. “I enjoyed being on the court with ballboys and a large crowd. It’s an environment that I’m not yet used to, so it was a unique experience.”

The teenager has started to serve notice of his talent with Argentina, with some of the best players in the country inviting him to train with them. He’s hopeful that as he continues to surround himself with some of the staple players on the ATP World Tour, his tennis will improve at a more rapid pace.

“I trained with Juan Monaco and Zeballos, which was great. I broke their serves a couple of times, but a live match is something else,” sad Ugo Carabelli. “I hope to be a little more adapted to them within a couple of years.”

Challenger success can often serve as a defining moment for a player’s career. Just ask American #NextGen star Ernesto Escobedo.

After hard-court results in the first half of 2016 that didn’t meet his high standards, the 20-year-old Californian broke through with his first ATP Challenger Tour title this July in Lexington, Kentucky. The win gave him the USTA Pro Circuit wild card into the US Open and he took advantage by winning his opening round match in New York City, then rode that momentum to his third Challenger final of the season this past month in Cary, North Carolina.

Having started the year at No. 393 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Escobedo now sits at a career-high ranking of No. 160.

“I had never won a pro final before, so I felt a little bit of pressure going into that match in Lexington,” said Escobedo. “But at the same time, I was playing a really good friend in Frances Tiafoe and I just wanted to show the crowd my best tennis. I gained so much confidence from that win. It really turned my whole year around. I know that I can play at this level of tennis.”

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Competing at this week’s $100,000 Challenger in Monterrey, Mexico, Escobedo looks to win the biggest title of his career. He shook off a mid-match surge from qualifier Tucker Vorster of South Africa to advance in his opening round on Tuesday.

Escobedo is one of a slew of young American stars who have enjoyed Challenger success in the past month including Tiafoe, Michael Mmoh, Mackenzie McDonald and fellow #NextGen player Noah Rubin. But while they all want to reach the top of the Emirates ATP Rankings, they’ve also spurred each other on to greater heights this year.

“We have a great relationship. Tiafoe, Mmoh, Taylor Fritz, you name it. We all have fun off the court,” said Escobedo. “But on the court, there are no friends. You have to go out there and try to win.”

Having reached the semi-finals last year in Monterrey, Escobedo said he’s extremely comfortable in the Mexican city and has everything in place to make another deep run.

“I think this is the best tournament out there,” said Escobedo. “I love being in Mexico and come to play here any chance I can get.”

Rafael Nadal, renowned from his ferocious game and battling qualities, says that he will look to restore his sledgehammer forehand in order to return to top form on the ATP World Tour.

Following his opening-round exit to Viktor Troicki on Wednesday at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, the former World No. 1 admitted, “I need to recover the forehand. I know I need to hit forehands. Every time that I hit the forehand, I need to create pain for my opponent.

“It is something that is not happening very often now, and it’s something that needs to happen for the next year… If that happens, then, for sure, I need to recover a little bit the electricity in my legs. I need to move faster to hit more forehands. But I need to be more confident with the forehand to make that happen. Everything is a cycle. I need to do the things together.”

The 30-year-old Nadal, who has suffered wrist problems this year, dropped to a 39-14 match record (15-6 at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments).

“I need to play my matches, to practise more and just to keep playing,” said Nadal. “I know what I have to do and I am going do it. I have two-and-a-half months until the new season starts, so I have two-and-a-half months to put myself at the level that I need to be. I have the confidence that I’m going do it.”

The Spaniard is looking to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the 12th successive year. He is currently No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Race To London with just three spots left up for grabs at the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 13-20 November.

Andy Murray had little trouble taking his seventh consecutive tour-level victory on Wednesday at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The second seed needed 75 minutes to beat Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-2 and improve his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Johnson to 3-0.

The American had forced Murray to pull out a third-set tie-break the last time they played, at the Rio Olympics. But Murray was on from the start of their second-round match in Shanghai. The Brit saved the only break point he faced in the first set and never gave Johnson a look at another one. The two-time Shanghai champion also feasted on Johnson’s second serve, winning 70 per cent of his second-serve return points (14/20).

Murray moves into the third round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, where he’ll face Frenchman Lucas Pouille for the second time. The Brit claimed their earlier contest, 6-2, 6-1 win at Rome.

Pouille survived a tight second-round affair against unseeded Nicolas Almagro, needing 90 minutes to beat the Spaniard 6-4, 7-6(10). Pouille, the 13^th seed, won 75 per cent of his service points, including 66 per cent of his second-serve points.

Fifteenth seed Roberto Bautista Agut advanced 6-4, 6-4 against American qualifier Taylor Fritz, a member of the ATP Next Generation. Both players didn’t give any breaks away. Bautista Agut saved all seven break points faced; Fritz erased eight of 10.

The Spaniard will meet Serbian Viktor Troicki in the third round. Troicki stunned Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6(3).