Gilles Simon has reached the third round of the Shanghai Masters after defeating Leonardo Mayer by a 6-7 6-4 6-2.
The 10th seed began the match slowly, with Mayer breaking at the first attempt following a lengthy opening game. The Argentine could not maintain his advantage, though, as Simon broke back to level matters.
The set went with the way of serve in the games that followed and went to a tie-break, which Mayer comfortably won 7-0.
Both players continued to hold serve through the second set, aside from a break apiece midway through, and looked on course to be heading for another tie-break. However, Mayer made a number of errors which allowed Simon to break and set up the opportunity to serve out the set, which he did to set up a decider.
Mayer then lost serve again in the opening game of the third set and struggled to recover, as Simon maintained his two-game advantage. Another break in the seventh game put paid to the world number 38's hopes of making it through, with Simon comfortably securing his place in the last 16.
Steven Toplis
