Aug 24, 2025; Flushing, NY, USA; Ben Shelton (USA) hits to Ignacio Buse (PER) on day one of the 2025 U.S. Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

tennis

ATP Shanghai Masters 2025 – Upsets Galore as Ben Shelton, Casper Ruud, Alexander Bublik & More Seeds Tumble Out in Round of 64

Everything that unfolded on Day-3 in Shanghai.

Aug 24, 2025; Flushing, NY, USA; Ben Shelton (USA) hits to Ignacio Buse (PER) on day one of the 2025 U.S. Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Day-3 of the 2025 Rolex Shanghai Masters main draw witnessed Round of 64 action commencing at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena. Several seeds began their campaigns, including four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic. The 24-time Grand Slam safely navigated a strenuous challenge against Marin Cilic to advance to Round-3. However, several other seeds were not as lucky in their progress. Let’s take a look at the long list of upsets on Frantic Friday:

Ben Shelton Makes Bitter Return to Action After Injury Issues

Second top 10 win of the year 👏

David Goffin takes out the returning Ben Shelton 6-2 6-4 to move on in Shanghai ✅#RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/3jsISB5wAK
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 3, 2025

World No. 6 Ben Shelton made an unsuccessful return to the tour, losing to former Top-10 player David Goffin in straight sets. The American was playing his first match since retiring vs Adrian Mannarino at the 2025 US Open due to a left shoulder injury. However, Goffin completely outplayed the southpaw and earned his second Top-10 win of the season. The loss dents Shelton’s quest for a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

4 – In defeating Ben Shelton, David Goffin is the fourth oldest player to defeat a top-10 in Men's Singles at the Shanghai Masters. Fire. #RolexShanghaiMasters | @SH_RolexMasters @atptour @ATPMediaInfo pic.twitter.com/RY4TA7fR2V
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) October 3, 2025

Looking slightly rusty from the start, Shelton struck 22 unforced errors in comparison with 11 false strokes by his Belgian counterpart. Even when he made the attacking move forward, the 22-year-old could not finish the points and gave Goffin an opening. “From the start, I started to feel really well with my ground-strokes,” the 34-year-old said. “I took the ball early, I was returning really well and serving very well.”

Result: Goffin def. Shelton 6-2 6-4.

Casper Ruud Forced to Retire After Grabbing Opening Set

Two-time Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud was well on his way to entering the Round of 32 on Friday. However, 26-year-old Zizou Bergs produced a scintillating display to come roaring back into the match. After splitting the first two sets, the Belgian took control of the third set and led 4-1. This is when an unfortunate injury concern forced Ruud to retire from the encounter.

Although the extent of the injury is unknown, Ruud has missed a great opportunity to earn some crucial ranking points. The Norwegian was eliminated at the same stage in the 2024 edition of the competition, and failed to capitalize on the opening. Ruud is currently at No. 11 on the ATP Live Race to Turin – with 2,495 points.

Result: Bergs def. Ruud 3-6 7-5 4-1 [RET].

Bublik, Cobolli and Tiafoe Shown the Exit Doors in R64 Bloodbath

Upset alert 🚨

World No. 202 Vacherot comes from behind to take down Bublik 3-6 6-3 6-4 in Shanghai!#RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/gSoopahQio
— Rolex Shanghai Masters (@SH_RolexMasters) October 3, 2025

There were more surprises in the second round as Alexander Bublik, Flavio Cobolli and Frances Tiafoe also suffered painful defeats. Bublik, seeded 14th in the Chinese city this week, won the Hangzhou Open merely ten days ago. He took the opening set against qualifier Valentin Vacherot before crumbling under pressure in three sets. Similarly, No. 25 seed Frances Tiafoe also allowed unseeded German Yannick Hanfmann to pull off a comeback win on Grandstand 2.

In one of the very few one-sided upsets so far, Wimbledon 2025 quarterfinalist Flavio Cobolli was completely outplayed by Spaniard Jaume Munar in straight sets. The 23-year-old Italian could produce just 61% first serves and hit 5 double faults en route to a 5-7 1-6 humbling in just over an hour and a half. While the first set had some long exchanges, it soon turned into one way traffic.

Results: Vacherot def. Bublik 3-6 6-3 6-4.

Hanfmann def. Tiafoe 6-7(9) 6-2 6-1.

Munar def. Cobolli 7-5 6-1.

(Image Credits: Robert Deutsch, Imagn Images)

Alexander Bublik

ATP

ATP 1000

Ben Shelton

Casper Ruud

Flavio Cobolli

Frances Tiafoe

Novak Djokovic

Shanghai Masters 2025

Tennis

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.