The Round of 16 at the 2023 ATP Rolex Shanghai Masters gets underway on Tuesday, October 10, at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena. Here is our preview for Day 7 of the ATP 1000 tournament. 

First out on Stadium Court will be eighth seed Casper Ruud, who will take on Fabian Maroszan. The World No. 91 has pulled off some surprising successes at this event, the most notable of which was his straight-sets win over eleventh seed Alex de Minaur in the second round. The Hungarian player has not yet dropped a set in Shanghai, having also ousted Arthur Rinderknech and Dusan Lajovic to set up the clash with Ruud.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian player has also been achieving impressive results so far at the tournament, defeating Zhuhai championships finalist Yoshihito Nishioka and twenty-ninth seed Christopher Eubanks in straight sets. Although Ruud has seemed to be struggling on the ATP Tour as of late, his run to the quarter-finals of the China Open last week and his performance here could suggest that he is back on form, which would make it difficult for Maroszan to beat him.

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Sinner to clash with Shelton as Korda aims to keep up momentum

Later in the day, sixth seed Jannik Sinner will face nineteenth seed Ben Shelton for the first time. The Italian player is keeping the momentum going after he won the China Open in Beijing last week, while Shelton stormed to the semi-final of the US Open last month.

The players have a lot of similarities - both have big serves and are known for being powerful hitters. Their journeys at the Shanghai Masters so far have also been fairly similar, with both the Italian and the American winning their first match in straight sets before overcoming a three-set battle with their second-round opponents.

Shelton fought back from a set down to oust Chengdu Open runner-up Roman Safiullin 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, while Sinner did the same against twenty-fifth seed Sebastian Baez, winning the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

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Prior to Sinner and Shelton's clash, Sebastian Korda will take on twentieth seed Francisco Cerundolo. This comes after the American pulled off a shock victory against second seed and defending champion Daniil Medvedev, which marked the twenty-sixth seed's first victory against a Top 5 player.

This will be his first meeting with the Argentinian player, who moved past Mackenzie McDonald and Marton Fucsovics to set up the clash.

Last up on Day 7 will be Hubert Hurkacz's encounter with home player Zhizhen Zhang. The Polish player will be hoping to repeat his victory over Zhang at the 2019 Shanghai Masters, which is their only previous meeting.

However, Zhang has been looking very comfortable so far at his hometown tournament, becoming the first Chinese player to win two consecutive matches at the tournament on his way to his clash with the sixteenth seed.  

Schedule Day 7 2023 ATP Rolex Shanghai Masters