Shanghai Masters 2024: 'Fresh and happy' Novak Djokovic dominates Flavio Cobolli, Taylor Fritz sets Holger Rune date

The last 16 at the Shanghai Masters is taking shape after a good day for some of the biggest names in the draw. Novak Djokovic flattened Flavio Cobolli in straight sets to earn a tie against Roman Safiullin, who earned a comeback win over Frances Tiafoe. There were also victories for Taylor Fritz, Holger Rune, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov in China.

Djokovic sweeps past Cobolli to reach last 16 in Shanghai

Video credit: SNTV

Novak Djokovic cantered into the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters with a 6-1 6-2 win over Flavio Cobolli on a day of strong performances from the seeded stars in China.

The Serbian, a record four-time champion at the event, put in a dominant display on serve and broke the 28th seed four times to wrap up victory in just 62 minutes.

Next up for the fourth seed is a match with Roman Safiullin, who came back from a set down to beat Frances Tiafoe 5-7 7-5 7-6(5) in a marathon three-hour contest.

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Djokovic, playing at his first ATP event since a shock US Open third-round exit to Alexei Popyrin at the end of August, was in commanding form as he continued his bid for a second title of the season following his gold medal triumph at the Paris Olympics.

“From the beginning I had a clear game plan of what I needed to do, staying aggressive and trying to use every short ball to take the initiative in the point,” said Djokovic.

“Cobolli was evidently exhausted after last night’s match [a win over Stan Wawrinka]. I think that has taken a toll, physically, on him today.

“I haven’t played too many matches, I think the positive in that is that I’m fresh, so I am happy to play every day as long as it takes."

He made an early statement of intent with two aces for an opening hold, which he followed up with an immediate break and love hold for a rapid 3-0 lead.

Cobolli, scrambling to recover from a disastrous start, got on the board in his next service game, but that proved to be as good as things got for the Washington runner-up.

The Serbian went on a charge of four consecutive love holds that stretched into the second set, and sandwiched two more breaks in between to wrap up the opening set in under half an hour.

Djokovic’s dominance told in the set one statistics, which showed he won 83% of first serve points and 88% of second serve points without facing a single break point.

Cobolli got off to a better start in set two by holding to start, and although he still couldn’t get close to breaking his illustrious opponent, the Italian showed great resilience by winning four points in a row when facing two break points.

Wawrinka snaps racquet over his knee!

Video credit: TNT Sports

However, Djokovic wouldn’t let his next chance get away from him and took his first break of the second set with a booming backhand winner down the line on the second of three break points for a 3-2 lead.

Another simple service game consolidated the advantage, before Djokovic broke once more in a 10-minute game, the longest of the match, to earn the right to serve for the match.

Feeling and stretching his right shoulder repeatedly, Djokovic's tennis didn’t show any signs of struggle as he served out without any fuss for a convincing win.

Monfils beats Humbert to set up Alcaraz clash in Shanghai

Video credit: SNTV

Alcaraz and Sinner discover opponents

Earlier on Tuesday, Ben Shelton of the United States set a date with top seed Jannik Sinner after beating Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3 6-4.

US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz beat qualifier Yosuke Watanuki by the same scoreline to set up a fourth-round tie against No. 12 seed Holger Rune, who won 6-4 7-5 against Jiri Lehecka.

Gael Monfils rolled back the years by beating fellow Frenchman Ugo Humbert 7-6(7) 2-6 6-1 to set up another tie with Carlos Alcaraz, their third of the year after the Spaniard’s win in Miami and Monfils’ stunning victory in Cincinnati.

Stefanos Tsitsipas won 6-3 7-5 against Alexandre Muller to set up an intriguing last 16 showdown with fifth seed Daniil Medvedev.

Grigor Dimitrov downed Alexei Popyrin 7-6(5) 6-2, and will face Alexander Shevchenko’s conqueror Jakub Mensik next, while another Czech player, Tomas Machac, will meet Tommy Paul after beating Alexander Vukic.

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