Novak Djokovic got his 2018 Shanghai Rolex Masters underway on Tuesday with a confident 6-3, 7-5 win over France's Jeremy Chardy to move into the competition's third round.

A three-time winner of the tournament, Djokovic was the first player to advance past the second stage and will face either Hyeon Chung or 16th seed Marco Cecchinato, who are scheduled to face off on Wednesday.

Great Britain's Kyle Edmund progressed to the second round after defeating Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-3. His next opponent will be Andreas Seppi, who beat Adrian Mannarino in straight sets on Monday and promises to be a stiffer test.

Chardy's compatriots Benoit Paire and Richard Gasquet both advanced after beating 15th-seed Pablo Carreno-Busta and Leonardo Mayer, respectively.

Tuesday's Results

(2) Novak Djokovic bt. Jeremy Chardy: 6-3, 7-5

Benoit Paire bt. (15) Pablo Carreno-Busta: 6-3, 6-4

Hyeon Chung bt. Hubert Hurkacz: 6-4, 2-6, 6-1

Richard Gasquet bt. Leonardo Mayer: 1-6, 6-2, 6-1

Alex de Minaur bt. Vasek Pospisil: 6-4, 7-6 (4)

Daniil Medvedev bt. Ze Zhang: 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4

Nikoloz Basilashvili bt. Denis Shapovalov: 6-2, 6-2

Mikhail Kukushkin bt. Albert Ramos Vinolas: 6-4, 6-2

(11) Kyle Edmund bt. Filip Krajinovic: 7-5, 6-3

Wednesday's Schedule, Key Fixtures

(1) Roger Federer vs. Daniil Medvedev 

(3) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Richard Gasquet

(7) Kevin Anderson vs. Mikhail Kukushkin

(4) Alexander Zverev vs. Nikoloz Basilashvili

(8) Kei Nishikori vs. Di Wu

The first session of play starts at 4 a.m. BST / 11 p.m. ET, while the second session (including Federer's match) won't start before 9 a.m. BST / 4 a.m. ET.

Recap

Djokovic made relatively light work of Chardy on Tuesday in his first match since his U.S. Open triumph in early September.

There were some signs improvement can still be made, particularly in a closer second set that might have  gone in Chardy's favour had he shown more competence returning his opponent's serve.

But a late break gave Nole the decider, 7-5. It's not the first time Chardy has struggled to hold a torch to the world No. 3, per tennis writer Jose Morgado:

Journalist Carole Bouchard also highlighted the closing gap in Djokovic's bid to reclaim the world No. 1 title from Rafael Nadal, who isn't competing in Shanghai:

South Korean star Chung bested Polish youngster Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, while Gasquet recovered from a 1-6 defeat in the first set against Leonardo Mayer to take the final two, 6-2, 6-1.

Edmund's 7-5, 6-3 defeat of Krajinovic was more routine and showcased a more confident side to the 23-year-old, who drew praise from The Times' Stuart Fraser for his display:

Paire was handed one of the more difficult first-round draws he could have had in 15th seed Carreno-Busta, but he was able to draw upon a wide variety of shots to put his name into the next round:

His next opponent will be 19-year-old Australian Alex de Minaur, who saved five first-set break points to maintain a perfect service record in securing an impressive 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over Vasek Pospisil.

Attention will turn to top seed Roger Federer on Wednesday as he gets his tournament up and running against Russia's Daniil Medvedev, who played three sets en route to a 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4 win over China's Ze Zhang.