Novak Djokovic has moved into the third spherical of the Rolex Shanghai Masters after beating Marin Cilic in straight units 7-6 (2), 6-4.
The match lasted slightly below two hours. Serbia’s high participant stayed centered throughout the important thing moments and closed out the match with out a lot bother.
This was the twenty second time Novak and Cilic have performed one another. With this win, Djokovic now leads their H2H report 20-2.
The primary set was very shut, with each gamers holding their serves. Within the eleventh sport, Novak needed to save two break factors, which he did, after which he took management within the tie-break, successful it 7-2 to take the set.
Within the second set, Novak raised his stage and made only a few errors. He broke Cilic’s serve early within the third sport and stored the lead till the tip, regardless that he needed to save two extra break factors within the closing sport.
“I struggled to search out my rhythm from the baseline,” admitted Djokovic. “I lacked some matches — my final one was on the US Open — so I received a very robust opener in opposition to Marin, who when is feeling the ball, is so harmful and may beat anyone. He didn’t give me time to breathe, so I believe I dug myself out of bother with good serving, which clearly makes me completely satisfied.”
Within the subsequent spherical, Novak will face German participant Yannick Hanfmann, at present ranked one hundred and fiftieth on this planet. Hanfmann prompted an upset within the second spherical by beating twenty fifth seed Frances Tiafoe in three units.
They’ve met as soon as earlier than, earlier this 12 months in Geneva, the place Novak gained 6-3, 6-3.
Their third-round match is scheduled on Sunday.
Photograph: Profimedia
