Fifth seed Andrey Rublev will face 12th seed Tommy Paul in the round of 16 of the 2023 Shanghai Masters. The match will be played on Wednesday, October 11, 2023.

Andrey Rublev stepped up in the first week of the Shanghai Masters to give himself a significant boost in the ATP Race to Turin. With a few of the contenders for the remaining four spots exiting the tournament, Rublev has the chance to establish clear daylight between himself (currently in fifth spot) and the likes of Tsitsipas, Zverev, Rune, and Ruud, who have all departed from China. Rublev avoided the rolling parade of shocks, with a fine performance to defeat the in-form Adrian Mannarino, winning 6-3, 6-0. 

Tommy Paul, surprisingly, is still in the reckoning as far as his hopes of qualifying for Turin are concerned. Currently, in the 11th spot in the race, Paul is about 600 points behind eighth-placed Holger Rune who occupies the coveted last spot in the standings. Because all those above jostling for a place at the season finale can’t quite make any moves this late in the season, Paul finds himself mathematically in contention. A win over Rublev could bridge that gap.

Andrey Rublev leads the head-to-head 4-1 over Tommy Paul. They haven’t clashed since last year’s Gijon Open. It is pertinent to note, three of their five matches in the series have gone the distance. While the other two matches which finished in straight sets featured at least 21 games. It’s all to play for as both players feel like they have unattained objectives. Rublev can seal his place in the final eight for Turin this week. Paul is one of those who will benefit from that discourse with a deep run this week. The Russian has been uninspiring coming to the tournament, but he has tapped into his best tennis at the Shanghai Masters, and backing him to win outright seems like a shrewd move.