MOSCOW, October 8. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Andrei Rublev cleared the opening round of the 2019 ATP Shanghai Masters tennis tournament defeating on Tuesday last year’s runner-up Borna Coric of Croatia.

It took the 21-year-old Russian one hour and 36 minutes to rout 12-seed Coric in straight sets 6-4; 7-6 (7-4).

Unseeded Rublev is set to face in the next round Australia’s John Millman, who defeated on Tuesday his first-round opponent Guido Pella of Argentina also in straight sets 6-3; 7-5, which took him one hour and 51 minutes.

Rublev is currently ranked 33rd in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Rankings. He is the winner of the 2017 ATP Croatia Open tournament and his best result at the Grand Slam tournaments was the quarterfinals stage of the 2017 US Open.

The 2019 ATP Shanghai Masters is played on outdoor hard courts between October 6 and 13 with $8.3 million in prize money up for grabs. The winner of the tournament in China will pack $1.38 million and 1,000 ranking points, while the runner-up will be awarded with $696,000 and 600 ranking points.