Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer Wins Highlight Thursday's Shanghai Masters Results

Rafael Nadal swept aside Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-1 at the 2017 Shanghai Masters on Thursday to cruise through the third round of the competition, as did Roger Federer, who beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 6-2.

Third seed Alexander Zverev lost in three sets against Juan Martin del Potro, who battled back from a set down to win 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Elsewhere, there were wins for Marin Cilic and Grigor Dimitrov.

For the full set of results and schedule, visit the ATP's official website.

Recap

Nadal was in fine fettle on Thursday as he breezed through the contest with Fognini in just 62 minutes.

The Italian did hit some fine shots along the way, as Tennis TV demonstrated:

He also produced a sumptuous lob in the second set, but he was unable to string together any of his positive play into a challenge for the top seed, who broke him four times on the way to victory.

As Record's Jose Morgado noted, the Spaniard has been impressive of late:

Federer was even quicker against Dolgopolov, as he saw off the Ukrainian's challenge in an hour.

The Swiss star grabbed a break in the opening game and that put him on the path to winning from the outset.

He did not break him again in the first set, but with the exception of one game in which Dolgopolov earned a break point, Federer was evidently comfortable, per tennis writer Nick Nemeroff:

The second set was even more straightforward. Dolgopolov was able to hold his first two service games, but Federer responded by rattling off five games in succession to secure passage to the quarter-finals.

Zverev's clash with Del Potro was much more fiercely contested. Even as the German edged him out in the first set, the Argentinian showed off his quality:

The pair were evenly matched throughout the second set, as both served extremely well—neither was even given a hint of a break point—and Del Potro was able to keep his hopes alive as he narrowly took the tiebreaker.

Zverev showed his frustration in the decider when his opponent broke for a 3-2 lead, per Live Tennis:

It would prove decisive, with Del Potro eventually taking the set 6-4.

Nadal will face Dimitrov in the quarter-final after he beat Sam Querrey 6-3, 7-6 (3).