Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka fought back to reach the second round of the Shanghai Masters Sunday with Germany's Florian Mayer the only other winner on the opening night of action in the main draw.

Wawrinka, for many years the "understudy” to more illustrious compatriot Roger Federer, beat Argentina's Juan Monaco 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in a tough first-round encounter under lights at the Qi Zhong Tennis Centre.

The Swiss 13th seed was broken three times in the first set as Monaco, a member of the Argentinian team that beat Novak Djokovic's Serbia in last month's Davis Cup semi-finals, capitalised on his erratic form.

But Wawrinka, who has been ranked as high as number nine, turned the tables on his opponent in the second set, forcing three breaks of his own as he levelled the contest.

Wawrinka is at 20th in the world rankings, seven places above Monaco. And he raced to a 5-0 lead in the third set, surviving a late wobble to seal the set and the match.

Earlier, 15th seed Mayer crushed Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-0, 6-2 in just 48 minutes in front of a sparse crowd.

In a one-sided contest, Mayer allowed his dispirited opponent just five points in thefirstsetand barely let up in the second, breaking twice to seal an emphatic victory.

The 28-year-old German, who won his first title in Bucharest earlier this year, kept an iron grip on the match, with out-of-sorts Fognini hurling his racket towards his chair after slumping to 2-5 in the second set.