The Polish player came through a scintillating third set, which he won on a tiebreak, to defeat neutral athlete Rublev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena.

"It was such a battle," Hurkacz said.

"Especially emotionally.

"I had a match point and Andrey hit an amazing serve and then he had a match point and then I had some match points.

"It was back and forth and such a tricky match.

"Andrey was playing some great shots.

"I was trying to respond. 

"It was one of those matches and I kept believing and I am super happy with how I managed at the end.

"It is such a big tournament and so much tradition.

"It is a huge event and I am really happy now."

Hurkacz excelled with his serve in key moments, firing 21 aces and winning 81 per cent of his first-serve points.

He saved match point at 6-5 in the third-set tie-break before converting on his fourth opportunity for the win.

The two-hour and nine-minute battle marks his second victory of the season against top 10 opposition.

The 26-year-old has now captured seven tour-level titles, with his triumph in Shanghai his second ATP Masters 1000 win.

He also won the Miami Open in 2021, defeating Italian Jannik Sinner in the final.

With his 39th win of the season, Hurkacz improved to 3-2 in the pair’s head-to-head record, while propelling himself to 11th in the "Race to Turin", which sets the qualifiers for the end-of-season ATP Finals in Italy.

He is just 335 points behind Denmark's Holger Rune, who currently occupies the all-important eighth position.