AMERICAN talent Ben Shelton continued his impressive form in a hectic calendar to advance through to the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 third round. The 21-year-old left hander proved too good for former Top 10 player Denis Shapovalov, defeating the fellow North American, 6-3 7-5.

In a match that lasted 77 minutes, Shelton did not face a break point and won a massive 76 per cent of his first serve points off the same percentage clip. Perhaps more impressive was the United States representative only lost one of 13 off his second serve, producing 11 aces along the way.

Shelton holds a comfortable unbeaten record against Shapovalov, extending it to three after his win over the Canadian, though the seed admitted her could tell his opponent had altered his game compared to their previous meetings.

“I think some of the tendencies and things that I expected, he changed it up today,” Shelton said post-match. “I was looking for a few things and was surprised by some of the things he did on the court.”

Shelton had more than his fair share of chances to close out the match earlier, but Shapovalov – who had to work his way through qualifying now he is ranked 102nd in the world – continued to hang in there. Eventually though Shelton cracked through for a second break in the 11th game to go 6-5 ahead before serving out the match.

Shelton produced 21 winners throughout the contest, and though was always on top, was never quite clear of Shapovalov until the end. His win moved the American through to the Round of 32, and said his main goal was to continue to evolve.

“I’m trying to work on being a little bit more calm and focused on the court,” Shelton said. “I think that it’s important for my evolution, and in the evolution of my game, that I continue to be able to focus for extended periods of time and and really lock in to play at a higher level for more than one set.

“I thought I did a great job of that today. I’m happy with the way that I stayed committed to my game style and stayed focused out there.”

The world number 17 will take on Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the third round after the world number 54 defeated Frenchman Arthur Fils 7-6 7-6. Fils was coming off a title in Tokyo with just a couple of days between lifting the trophy and playing his second round match as 21st seed.

Fils defeated Humbert in that final, though Humbert was able to get past another compatriot in Arthur Cazaux 6-3 6-2 to reach the Round of 32, while other Frenchmen Gael Monfils and Alexandre Muller stamped their tickets into the next stage. Arthur Rinderknech was not as fortunate, going down to Chilean Alejandro Tabilo.

Chinese wildcard Yibing Wu caused a stunning upset in front of home fans with a 61-minute demolition job against world number 29 Nicolas Jarry, with the 560th ranked Wu winning 6-2 6-1. Among the other winners were seeds Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Tommy Paul.