Day Three of the ATP Rolex Shanghai Masters will get underway on Friday, October 6, with Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, and Alexander Zverev among those set to take to the courts at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena. 

Eighth seed Ruud will kick off the day on Stadium Court with his match against Yoshihito Nishioka. The Norwegian player has been having a difficult time on the ATP Tour as of late, including a second-round exit at the US Open last month. However, he made it to the quarter-finals of the China Open in Beijing last week, potentially suggesting that he is finding his way back to form.

Meanwhile, his Japanese opponent, who is ranked World No. 48, also suffered a string of early defeats throughout the summer but made it to the final of the ATP 250 Zhuhai Championships recently, where he finished as runner-up to Karen Khachanov. Ruud and Nishioka's head-to-head is currently level at 1-1.

Later in the day on Stadium Court, World No. 5 Rune will take on Brandon Nakashima. The American player is currently ranked outside of the Top 100 in the ATP Ranking at No. 123 but leads his head-to-head with Rune 1-0. He defeated the Dane two years ago at the 2021 Next Gen ATP Finals.

Despite a run to the semi-finals of the Lyon Open, Nakashima has failed to make it past the second round of almost every other tournament that he has played this year. At the China Open in Beijing last week, he was ousted in the opening round by Aleksandar Vukic.

Rune has had a much better season overall, breaking into the Top 5 in the ATP Ranking for the first time and getting much deeper runs in tournaments - this includes reaching multiple finals and winning the Bavarian International Tennis Championships. However, the 20-year-old has been dealing with a back injury over recent months that has led him to several early exits and withdrawals. At the China Open, he ousted Felix Auger-Aliassime before being defeated in the second round by World No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov.

Closing out the day on Stadium Court will be World No. 10 Zverev's re-match with Roman Safiullin. The German player extended his head-to-head over the Russian to 2-0 following the final of the ATP 250 Chengdu Open last week, which Zverev won after a close-knit battle in which the first two sets went to a tiebreak.

Both players seem to be improving at the moment, as that match marked Safiullin's first ATP Tour-level final, while Zverev continued his successful streak of deep runs at the China Open where he reached the semi-final.

Over on Show Court, World No. 15 Auger-Aliassime will start his run against Hungary's Marton Fucsovics. The Canadian player has struggled a lot this season but looked positive at the Laver Cup at the end of September, helping Team World to a landslide 13-2 victory. However, he proceeded to lose his first-round match against Rune at the China Open.

Prior to this match, World No. 11 Alex de Minaur will face another Hungarian player in Fabian Maroszan. This will be their first meeting, and the Australian will be hoping for a good run here as he aims to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

Over on Grandstand 2, rising talent Ben Shelton will take on Jaume Munar. The latter replaced Kei Nishikori in the draw following the Japanese player's withdrawal.

Christopher Eubanks, Sebastian Korda, Mackenzie McDonald, and Hubert Hurkacz will also be playing on Day Three of the Shanghai Masters.