17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer has emerged as this year's Shanghai Masters champion.
In his final showdown against resilient Frenchman Gilles Simon, Federer rallied back from a sluggish start to down France's Gilles Simon, 7-6, 7-6.
Federer barely made it into the final, having to save five match points against Leonardo Mayer in a dramatic second-round contest.
After getting past world number-1 Novak Djokovic in Saturday's semi-final, Federer continued to impress the on looking Chinese fans.
Though having previously won the tournament in Shanghai twice, this is the first time Federer has won the event in its current form.
"I've always wanted to win it as a Masters 1000. Obviously winning the Masters Cup back in the day was huge. Then when I came back for the Masters 1000 I was very happy for the tournament, for the fans here in China here in Shanghai in particular. I feel unbelievable prestige to win this event. Especially putting my hands on the trophy for the first time is a good feeling."
The victory now moves him up back up to world number two, displacing Rafael Nadal.
The 33-year-old admits he's enjoying his resurgence on the court.
"You know great, I mean. I'm not half broken as I was last year and I'm playing a consistent, solid season. This year I think everything goes really well. I still have lots of highlights to look forward to for the end of the season which is very nice, because usually everything slows down at the end of the season but not for me this time."
Federer now heads to the grand finale of the season - the ATP World Tour Finals - where world elite eight players will battle in London next month.
For CRI, I'm Luo Wen in Shanghai.
