Rublev begins with a win
Andrey Rublev was forced to tough it out against Emil Ruusuvuori before securing his passage to the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday.
There are 79 places between the two players in the world rankings but world No 87 qualifier Ruusuvuori made Rublev work for his victory.
The Russian, seeded second this week, broke in the first game of the match and that was the only moment to separate the pair in a hard fought first set.
The match continued to stay on serve into the second set until Rublev claimed the decisive break in the seventh game, before later serving out the win 6-4, 6-4.
The 23-year-old Russian takes on either Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili or American 15th seed Taylor Fritz for a place in the quarter-finals.
Shapovalov cruises into third round
Denis Shapovalov came through a potentially tricky second round encounter at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships by claiming a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 win Jan-Lennard Struff on Tuesday.
Third seed Shapovalov, making his debut, was playing his first match at the tournament after receiving a bye to the second round. He was up against a player who reached last year's quarter-finals and had beaten him in their past four meetings.
Any concerns that this could be a tough match for the 21-year-old Canadian quickly vanished after breaking twice to race into a 5-0 lead having saved two break points in his first service game.
The second set may appear to have been more competitive based on the scoreline, but it played out in similar ways with Shapovalov claiming two breaks. The second was on match point as the world No 12 advanced to the third round and a meeting with Polish 13th seed Hubert Hurkacz, who beat France's Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-4 on Court 1.
Karatsev battles past Evans
Australian Open semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev held his nerve to edge British 12th seed Dan Evans 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to book his place in the third round.
Wildcard Karatsev, who made history in Melbourne as the first male player to reach the last four on his Grand Slam debut, looked to on course for a routine win when he lead 4-2 in the second set.
However, the Brit fought back to win four straight games to claim the set and level the match. Evans' momentum stopped there, though, as the Russian world No 45 broke in the first game of the decider and wrapped up the victory in two hours and 22 minutes after both players held serve throughout the set.
Evans did have the chance to level when Karatsev served for the match having held two break points at 15-40 but the Russian held firm to keep his tournament alive.
Karatsev will next face Lorenzo Sonego after the Italian 17th seed outclassed Spanish qualifier Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-2, 6-2.
Sinner safe after slow start
Jannick Sinner bounced back from a slow start to defeat Alexander Bublik 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the second round.
The Italian 16th seed, one of the most exciting prospects on the ATP Tour, was outplayed in the first set as Bublik claimed two breaks of serve during a run of five straight games while facing little pressure on his own service games.
The second set was a much closer contest entirely dominated by serve, with neither player facing any break points. Sinner then took control in the tiebreak to take the match into a deciding set.
The Italian was now in the ascendency and moved ahead after claiming the first break for a 4-2 lead. Bublik stayed in touching distance and broke back two games later to level at 4-4, but the Kazakh handed the advantage back to Sinner after a marathon ninth game and the world No 32 served out the match to love.
Sinner will play Spanish fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut after the 2017 champion progressed following opponent Mathew Ebden's retirement.
Order of play
Centre Court - starting at 2pm
[3] Denis Shapovalov (CAN) bt Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 6-1, 6-3
[2] Andrey Rublev (RUS) bt Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) 6-4, 6-4
Not before 7pm
Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs [5] David Goffin (BEL)
[1] Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs (Q) Lloyd Harris (RSA)
Court 1 - starting at 1pm
[13] Hubert Hurkacz (POL) bt Richard Gasquet (FRA) 6-3, 6-4
[8] Karen Khachanov (RUS) bt [WC] Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 3-6, 7-6
[4] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) bt [SE] Matthew Ebden (AUS) 4-1 RT
[15] Taylor Fritz (USA) vs Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO)
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) vs [14] Filip Krajinovic (SRB)
Court 2 - starting at 2pm
[WC] Aslan Karatsev (RUS) bt [12] Daniel Evans (GBR) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
[11] Dusan Lajovic (SRB) bt [WC] Malek Jaziri (TUN) 7-5, 6-2
[6] Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) vs Marton Fucsovics (HUN)
Court 3 - starting at 1pm
[17] Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) bt [Q] Bernabe Zapata Miralles (ESP) 6-2, 6-2
[16] Jannik Sinner (ITA) bt Alexander Bublik (KAZ) 2-6, 7-6, 6-4
[LL] Lorenzo Giustino (ITA) vs Aljaz Bedene (SLO)
