Novak Djokovic, who is seeking his 100th career ATP Tour title, easily defeated Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 6-2 in the third round of the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament on Tuesday.
Djokovic confirmed his victory by hitting his 19th winning shot, sending his forehand behind the Italian, while he was jostled at the back of the court.
The fourth-seeded Serb did not concede a break point to his opponent in the third round, after having to play two tiebreaks and saving set points against American Alex Michelsen in the previous round.
“Cobolli was obviously exhausted after his match the day before,” Djokovic said of his opponent, who beat Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka on Monday. I think it took a toll on him, physically, today.”
Djokovic, who has won four of his 99 career titles in Shanghai, will face Russian Roman Safiullin in the next round, who surprised American Frances Tiafoe 5-7, 7-5 and 7-6 (5).
Earlier today, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas learned that he will restart his rivalry with Daniil Medvedev after defeating Alexandre Müller 6-3, 7-5.
Tsitsipas, the 12th-ranked player in the world, and the Russian, a former U.S. Open champion, will face each other for the 14th time, and the first in almost a year. Medvedev, the fifth racket in the world, is 9-4 in his career against Tsitsipas, and their rivalry has often heated up off the court over the years.
“I respect him on the circuit, much more than before,” Tsitsipas admitted. We’ve already had a few spats on the court, but I think time has finally sorted things out.”
Tsitsipas had to wait two days due to rain before playing his third round match against Müller. He seemed in full control of the match until he was broken at 5-3 in the second set. Unmoved, the Greek immediately responded with a break of service to secure the victory and set the table for the duel against Medvedev.
Furthermore, the American Ben Shelton disposed of Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 6-4, after scoring eight aces and 24 winning shots. He will meet in the fourth round with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
His compatriot, Taylor Fritz, also continued his way after ousting the Japanese Yosuke Watanuki 6-3, 6-4, while Grigor Dimitrov, who is taking part in his 100th Masters 1000 series tournament, beat Alexei Popyrin 7- 6 (5), 6-3.
Frenchman Gaël Monfils toppled world No. 15 Ugo Humbert 7-6 (7), 2-6 and 6-1. The 38-year-old veteran, who is ranked 46th in the world, became the second oldest player in Shanghai Masters history to reach the fourth round. Only the Swiss Roger Federer (also at the age of 38) had achieved this before him, in 2019.
“It’s always difficult to face Ugo, because he is very aggressive, he plays quickly in the corridors and it takes time (to overcome him),” noted Monfils, who will now face the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
For his part, Tomas Machac, who reached the final four in Tokyo, easily defeated Australian Alexander Vukic 6-4, 6-2. He will face the 13th ranked player in the world, Tommy Paul, in the third round.
At the end of the program, world No. 3 Alexander Zverev converted his eighth match point to barely overcome Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (6), 2-6 and 7-6 (5).
Siniakova will measure in Sabalenka in Wuhan
Katerina Siniakova easily defeated the Philippine Alexandra Eala 6-3, 6-1 to set the table for a second round duel against the reigning champion of the Wuhan tournament, Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka, who won the title in her last appearance in 2019, only needs to reach the quarter-finals in Wuhan to seize first place in the world. Poland’s Iga Swiatek is absent from this Asian tour, citing fatigue and personal issues. Swiatek recently cut ties with his coach Tomasz Wiktorowski.
Her compatriot, Magda Linette, manhandled world 23rd player Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 6-2, while Ekaterina Alexandrova toppled former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-1, 4-6, 6- 4.
Other winners today include Britain’s Katie Boulter, American Amanda Anisimova, Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova and Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian, who will face Paris Games gold medalist Zheng Qinwen in the next round.
After ending her 24-game losing streak last week at the China Open, Zhang Shuai fell back into her bad habits and lost 6-4, 6-4 to Kazakh Yulia Putintseva in the third round.
The top eight seeds, including Sabalenka and China Open champion Coco Gauff, earned a bye into the second round.
The Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez must also meet the Russian Kamilla Rakhimova (no. 66), after having disposed of her compatriot Diana Shnaider 6-7 (7), 6-3 and 6-3 in the curtain raiser of the tournament the day before .
