Nadal, Djokovic progress at Shanghai Masters

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal,  Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer  recorded wins to reach the last 16 of Shanghai Masters on Wednesday.

Federer has never won the Shanghai Masters, but the Swiss will be looking to add the trophy to his illustrious collection as he kicked off his campaign with a straight-sets win over Andreas Seppi

The record 17-time grand slam champion is playing in his first event since suffering a shock fourth-round loss to Tommy Robredo at the US Open, and is in desperate need of form as the battle for places at the World Tour Finals begins to intensify.

And the way he approached his tie against Seppi suggests the 32-year-old is looking to end the campaign on a high after struggling to make an impact throughout, winning 6-4 6-3.

Nadal collected an easy 6-3 6-2 win over Alexandr Dolgopolov in his first match since returning to world No. 1, winning in 58 minutes.

The Spaniard has bounced back from seven months on the sidelines with a fine campaign by winning the French and US Opens, as well as eight other titles.

Nadal is looking to become the first player to win six Masters crowns in a single season having triumphed at Cincinnati, Montreal, Rome, Madrid and Indian Wells.

The only problems Djokovic faced in his opening match as defending champion were with his foot as he demolished Marcel Granollers to reach the last 16.

The Serb has been knocked off the top of the world rankings by Nadal, and there is a steely look of determination from Djokovic as he stormed his way into the next round thanks to a comfortable 6-2 6-0 win.

Knowing he was going to lose his No. 1 status last week, Djokovic followed up his China Open victory over Nadal on Sunday with a devastating display in his opener in Shanghai.

And the only problems the current Australian Open champion faced came at the start of the second set, where after he broke his Spanish opponent required treatment on his right foot, with the trainer going through a lot of tape after Djokovic was testing it out with a mini-exercise.

The pain arrived as he played a double-handed backhand and applied all of his weight on his right foot. The problem did not stop him from recording a bagel in the second set after he took three games on the spin from 3-2 up in the first set.