Daniel Altmaier came from a set down to beat Holger Rune 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in the first round of the Shanghai Masters, leaving the Dane still waiting for a first ATP Tour win since returning from an Achilles rupture and setting up a second-round meeting with Ben Shelton.
Shanghai, China: Rune won the opening set in a rush, and Altmaier, ranked 67th, spent the next two sets undoing it. The match lasted two hours and 14 minutes on the opening day of the Rolex Shanghai Masters, the penultimate Masters 1000 event of the season, with a decider that stayed level until 4-4.
Rune Starts Fast, Altmaier Digs In
Rune, a former world No. 4, attacked from the first game and took the opening set 6-1. The second looked likely to follow the same pattern until Altmaier’s serving steadied and he forced a tie-break, which he won 7-5 to level the match. The momentum had turned, even if the scoreboard had barely moved.
The Break at 4-4
The deciding set stayed on serve until the ninth game, when Altmaier broke Rune at 4-4. He then served for the match at 5-4, and at 30-30 a backhand passing shot gave him match point, which he converted. “There were a couple of points where I really had to fight,” Altmaier said of the closing stretch.
A Comeback Still Waiting
For Rune, the defeat extends a frustrating return. He ruptured his Achilles tendon in October 2025 and came back last month, winning both of his singles rubbers for Denmark against Bulgaria in the Davis Cup. On the ATP Tour, though, he lost his first match back in Tokyo to Kyrian Jacquet, and he is still looking for his first tour-level win since returning. His ranking stands at 195th, protected after the injury layoff.
Shelton Awaits
Altmaier’s reward is a meeting with Shelton, the world No. 4 and third seed, who reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open last month. The German has a recent edge to draw on. He beat Shelton on clay in Hamburg in May, the only time the pair have met.
Elsewhere on the opening day, China’s Wu Yibing, an Asian Games silver medallist, beat lucky loser Michael Zheng 6-3, 7-6(6) to earn a second-round meeting with top seed Alexander Zverev, while wild card Zhou Yi upset qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4) to set up a clash with Lorenzo Musetti. The field is also without world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who has ended his 2026 season with a knee problem, while Novak Djokovic, fresh from a record seventh China Open title in Beijing, begins his Shanghai campaign on Friday against Hubert Hurkacz.
Result: Daniel Altmaier (Germany) beat Holger Rune (Denmark) 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in 2h 14m
Event: Rolex Shanghai Masters (ATP Masters 1000), first round
Next: Altmaier v Ben Shelton (USA, 3), second round
