Top Seeds Advance at Shanghai Rolex Masters, Nishikori, Gasquet, Raonic, Simon Upset

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic cruised to straight-set victories in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters, as the world number one and two played their first matches in Shanghai in nearly two years.

A rare occasion where he found himself on the unpopular end of a boisterous crowd, Federer downed Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun, 6-3, 7-5, breaking Lu twice and holding serve throughout the match.

The victory puts Federer just one win away from retaining his world number one ranking for a record 300th week, and sets up a third round meeting with his doubles partner, thirteenth ranked Stanislas Wawrinka, who needed three sets to take out Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

"Not having been broken is a good thing early on in a tournament. You hope it sets a trend for more to come," commented Federer. "Lu I thought played a pretty good match. He's got the game to be really dangerous, particularly on a fast court like today."

Djokovic looked in top form on center court, disposing of Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, 6-3, 6-2, in their first-ever meeting. Capitalizing on three-of-five break opportunities and five aces, Djokovic played efficient tennis, only losing five points on his serve throughout the entire match, en route to his ATP-leading 66th win of the season.

Feliciano Lopez awaits Djokovic in the third round, the Spaniard edging Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3, 6-4.

"Relying on the serve in today's tennis is a big advantage," added Djokovic. "I try to get as many free points as possible . . . It helped me a lot to defeat my opponent."

For the second straight year, two-time defending champ Andy Murray received a walkover into the third round, as Germany's Florian Mayer withdrew due to a rib injury. Murray is now set to face Alexandr Dolgopolov in the round of 16, as the Ukrainian upset fifteenth-ranked Gilles Simon, 6-3, 6-4.

While fourth seeded Tomas Berdych, fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and sixth seeded Janko Tipsarevic all advanced in straight sets, the lower seeds struggled in Shanghai, as Japan's Kei Nishikori, France's Richard Gasquet, and Canada's Milos Raonic all exited the tournament.

Up one set to none, Nishikori fell victim to American Sam Querrey's 20 aces and four successful service breaks, ultimately losing the match, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

A Shanghai semi-finalist in 2011, Nishikori won last week in Tokyo. But after calling a medical timeout, it was apparent that Nishikori's body was at its physical limits, after nearly two weeks of everyday tennis.

"My right ankle... was bothering me from last week... even yesterday was hurting. But I play through." stated Nishikori. "I tried to play, but he had a good serve. I broke him first in third set, but couldn't finish the match. It's disappointing."

Third round action continues tomorrow.

2012 Shanghai Rolex Masters

Second Round Results

[1] Roger Federer def. Lu Yen-Hsun, 6-3, 7-5
[2] Novak Djokovic def. Grigor Dimitrov, 6-3, 6-2
[4] Tomas Berdych def. Andreas Seppi, 6-3, 6-3
[5] Jo-Wilfried def. Benoit Paire, 7-6 (7), 7-5
[6] Janko Tipsarevic def. Viktor Troicki, 6-2, 7-6 (3)
Radek Stepanek def. [11] Richard Gasquet, 6-4, 6-4
Marcos Baghdatis def. [12] Milos Raonic, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3)
[13] Stanislas Wawrinka def. Denis Istomin, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Sam Querrey def. [14] Kei Nishikori , 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
Alexandr Dolgopolov def. [15] Gilles Simon, 6-3, 6-4
Feliciano Lopez def. [16] Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3, 6-4
Tommy Haas def. Tommy Rodredo, 6-3, 6-3