Shanghai - Australian teenager Bernard Tomic beat South Africa's Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 in the first round of the Shanghai Masters tournament here on Monday.

In a match dominated by serve, the 18-year-old Tomic forced the only break of the contest in the deciding set.

"I'm happy I won against a player like Kevin because he can beat so many world class players on his day," said Tomic, who achieved a career-high ranking of 49 on Monday.

"I was happy to break him in that third and I think that's what won the match," he added.

Anderson's loss comes after he broke into the world's top 30 for the first time on Monday.

Anderson reached the quarter-finals of the China Open in Beijing last week - upsetting fromer world No 1 Andy Roddick in the first round -  before he was eliminated by Croatia's Marin Cilic.

Results on Monday from the Shanghai Masters (seedings in parentheses):

Singles

First Round

David Nalbandian, Argentina, def. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia, 7-5, 6-4.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain, def. Somdev Devvarman, India, 6-4, 6-3.
Albert Montanes, Spain, def. Mikhail Kukushkin, Kazakhstan, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (5).
Andy Roddick (10), United States, def. Lu Yen-Hsun, Taiwan, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Bernard Tomic, Australia, def. Kevin Anderson, South Africa, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3.
Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria, def. Marsel Ilhan, Turkey, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Matthew Ebden, Australia, def. Pablo Andujar, Spain, 6-4, 6-4.
Fernando Verdasco (16), Spain, def. Li Zhe, China, 6-2, 6-2.
Donald Young, United States, def. Gong Mao-Xin, China, 6-1, 6-4.
Tommy Robredo, Spain, def. Stephane Bohli, Switzerland, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4).
Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain, def. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Santiago Giraldo, Colombia, def. Ivan Dodig, Croatia, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.