“Whatever it takes – I’m feeling good”: Djokovic eases through to last 16 in Shanghai

Serb Novak Djokovic, the No 4 seed, moved into the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters by beating Italian Flavio Cobolli, the No 28 seed, 6-1, 6-2 at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center on Tuesday.

“I’m feeling good. I think the advantage of not playing many tournaments is that you’re fresh,” he said afterwards. “So, I don’t mind playing long matches every single day, whatever it takes. I’ve been recovering pretty well, and as you said, couple days of no match also helps the body. Yeah, maybe it’s not ideal, you don’t want to make too long of breaks when you’re in the tournament already because of the game and kind of feeling that you have in your hands with the racquet.

“Yeah, I’m pleased with the way I kind of bounced back off that hard-fought second-round win, first match. So I look forward to tomorrow, I’m feeling good about my game and about myself.”

Djokovic made light work of Cobolli’s challenge, sealing the win in a little over 60 minutes with an average of 83 percent on first-serve points and 81 on the second-serve.

The Serb hit 19 winners and broke Cobolli’s serve four times, while not giving the Italian any break points.

Djokovic, ranked No 4, will next play Russian Roman Safiullin, who defeated American Frances Tiafoe, the No 13, seed in his third-round effort.

The 37-year-old Serb won against American Alex Michelsen (7-6 (3), 7-6 (9)) in the previous round of the Shanghai tournament.

During the second round of the Shanghai tournament, Cobolli, ranked No 30, defeated Swiss wildcard Stan Wawrinka (6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-3).

Shanghai Masters 1000, other third-round results (Qi Zhong Tennis Center, hard, USD 8.995.555, most recent results first):

• Tallon Griekspoor vs. Alexander Zverev
• David Goffin vs. Marcos Giron: tuesday
• Holger Rune (12) beat Jiri Lehecka (33): 6-4, 7-5
• Roman Safiullin beat Frances Tiafoe (13): 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5)
• Grigor Dimitrov (9) beat Alexei Popyrin (20): 7-6 (5), 6-2
• Ben Shelton (14) beat Roberto Carballes Baena: 6-3, 6-4
• Taylor Fritz (7) beat Yosuke Watanuki (Q): 6-3, 6-4
• Jakub Mensik beat Alexander Shevchenko: 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2
• Tomas Machac (30) beat Aleksandar Vukic (Q): 6-4, 6-2
• Gael Monfils beat Ugo Humbert (16): 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-1
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (10) beat Alexandre Muller: 6-3, 7-5
• Tommy Paul (11) beat Alejandro Tabilo (19): 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 6-2
• Carlos Alcaraz (3) beat Yibing Wu (WC): 7-6 (5), 6-3
• Jannik Sinner (1) beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry (31): 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2
• Daniil Medvedev (5) beat Matteo Arnaldi (29): 5-7, 6-4, 6-4

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