Tsitsipas ground out the first set via a tiebreak and kicked on in the second, beating Nishikori 7-6 6-4 to set up a second-round showdown with Alexandre Muller. After the match, the Greek signed a nearby camera lens and wrote the numbers '7784'.

Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 12 ranking) will take on Alexandre Muller (No. 74) in the Round of 32 of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Saturday, October 5. Over his last 10 tournaments, Tsitsipas has won 23.2% of his return games and 83.6% of his service games.