Kyrgios Out as Edmund Cruises Through

The Shanghai Masters has highlighted the contrasting stories of two 23-year-olds this week. One, with all the talent in the world, dropped out in the first round amid a row with the umpire (no prizes for guessing that one,) and the other has professionally maneuvered his way through to the last 16 without dropping a set.

Kyrgios didn’t last long in Shanghai as he suffered a first-round defeat against American qualifier Bradley Klahn in three sets. Klahn, the world number 104 came through 4-6 6-4 6-3 to claim a huge scalp and progress to the second round, where he would go on to lose in straight sets against Born Coric.

As if often the case, Kyrgios didn’t go quietly, making the headlines for another spat with an umpire, the third year in a row that he has caused controversy in Shanghai. However, that should not detract from Klahn’s efforts, once again making it through qualifying to reach the second round of a Masters 1000 event, following up good performances in Toronto and Cincinnati.

Other noticeable early round loses came from Denis Shapovalov and Marin Cilic. Shapovalov suffered a difficult 6-2 6-2 loss to 23^rd ranked Nikoloz Basilashvili. This was probably not a huge surprise, as he faced a difficult opponent off the back of a long run to the semi-finals in Tokyo last week.

It was a shock loss for Marin Cilic though, as he went out 2-6 7-6 7-5 to Chilean Nicolas Jarry. Cilic hasn’t been in the best of form since making the quarterfinals of the US Open, having lost in the second round in both Shanghai and Tokyo without winning a match. Cilic will be eager to find some form ahead of his country’s Davis Cup finals appearance against France next month.

On the other side of the equation, there have been plenty of strong performances, with Novak Djokovic, Borna Coric, and Kyle Edmund progressing nicely through the draw (coincidentally, they all made our list of 2018 High Flyers)

Djokovic received a bye in the first round before dispatching Jeremy Chard 6-3 7-5 and will face Italian Marco Cecchinato in the third round. Djokovic will look to continue his good run of form and keep up his momentum approaching the tour finals in London.

Another Croatian who will be looking forward to the Davis Cup finals is Borna Coric, and he looks to be in good form, taking a 4-6 6-4 6-3 victory over Stan Wawrinka, before beating Bradley Klahn 6-4 6-2. Coric will now face a massive test in Juan Martin del Potro and will be looking to put a marker down with a huge win.

While Aussie youngster Kyrgios has been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons, an Aussie veteran, Matthew Ebden has been doing the business on the court. The world number 51 beat America’s Frances Tiafoe in the first round before recording a huge victory over Dominic Thiem in the second. Ebden now has another winnable game against Peter Gojowczyk in the last 16.

Last of all, a shout out to Kyle Edmund, who has continued his great year by moving seamlessly into the third round. The young Brit beat Filip Krakinovic 7-5 6-3 in the first round before taking care of Andreas Seppi 6-3 6-4 in the second round. Edmund has now reached a career-high ranking of 14 in the world and will face Nicolas Jarry in the third round.

There is still plenty of action to tune in to, with Roger Federer beginning the defense of his title against Daniil Medvedev later today and some excellent matchups in the last 16 matches.

Check out the draw here!