Novak Djokovic opened his Shanghai Masters campaign with a 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 victory against long-time rival and friend Marin Cilic in his first match since his US Open exit.
Djokovic, who suffered a US Open semi-final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz, kick-started his bid for a record-extending fifth title in China by sprinkling sawdust on his hands to combat the humidity, which had him struggling to maintain grip early on.
The 38-year-old absorbed the heavy artillery of former Wimbledon finalist Cilic to earn a hard-fought victory in just under two hours.
“I struggled to find my rhythm from the baseline,” admitted Djokovic, who improved to a 40-6 record in Shanghai. “I [lacked] some matches – my last one was at the US Open – so I got a really tough opener against Marin, who when is feeling the ball, is so dangerous and can beat anybody. He didn’t give me time to breathe, so I think I dug myself out of trouble with good serving, which obviously makes me happy.”
Little could separate the veteran pair in the first set as both players held their serve up until a tie-breaker in which Djokovic dominated.
The 38-year-old, who is looking to finish the season strong after being shut out of the Grand Slams by world No 1 Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, then broke Cilic’s serve early in the second and battled to see out the game and seal his spot in the third round.
Djokovic will take on German Yannick Hanfmann on Sunday after the 33-year-old upset 25th seed Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (11-9) 6-2 6-1.
“Tonnes of respect for Marin, all he has achieved and who he is as a person,” said Djokovic. “We get along very well off the court, we’ve known each other for some many years. The last time we played was three years ago, so it’s great to see him back playing at this level.”
Elsewhere, sixth seed Ben Shelton was beaten 6-2 6-4 by David Goffin, Holger Rune claimed a 7-5 6-4 win over Sebastian Baez and Learner Tien beat Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Jannik Sinner, who won the China Open final in Beijing on Wednesday, is scheduled to play on Saturday.
Top-ranked Alcaraz, who beat Taylor Fritz in the Japan Open final, announced after his win in Tokyo that he would not play in Shanghai due to minor ailments.
Tale of the Tape
‘Djokovic fought off some demons’
Liam Broady says Djokovic came through some ‘tough situations and fought off some demons’ in his win against Cilic
British player Liam Broady, speaking on Sky Sports Tennis:
“Another stellar performance from Novak. He’ll be so pleased with that. He came through some tough situations and fought off some demons against Cilic, who was playing pretty well. He hit 28 winners so it was never going to be an easy day against someone with that sort of firepower. It was a pretty tight six and four.
“With 84 per cent first serves won, we knew it was going to be pretty high from Novak considering how many aces he hit in the match. What shocks me is how high that first serve percentage is and then the first serve points won behind it. It’s so rare to get a player who has high stats on both of those. He’ll be pleased to be progressing.”
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