Shanghai. The Serbian Novak Djokovic, former world number 1 (currently number 4) sent a message to his rivals that he is recovering his usual level of tennis with an expeditious victory against the Italian Flavio Cobolli (number 30), 6-1 and 6-2 , this Tuesday in the third round of the Shanghai Masters 1000.
The Serbian, who had not played again since his surprising elimination in the third round of the US Open, barely needed one hour and four minutes to get rid of the 22-year-old Italian with an excellent game, with more than 80 percent of the points won. with his serve, without conceding a single ball of break and 19 winning points (6 from Cobolli) for 18 errors (26 from the rival).
“From the beginning I was clear about the game plan, staying aggressive and trying to take advantage of any short ball to take the initiative of the point,” Djokovic declared after the match, who admitted that his rival paid “a physical toll” after having to play just a few hours after facing the Swiss Stan Wawrinka.
“I haven’t played many games. The positive thing is that I’m fresh, so I’m happy if I have to play every day or if I have long games,” he added in reference to his lack of activity in recent weeks.
Djokovic, who is seeking the 100th title of his career in Shanghai and who in 2024 has only won gold at the Paris Games, will have as his opponent in the next round the Russian Roman Safiulin (number 61), who he defeated in three sets by 5 -7, 7-5 and 7-6 (7/5) to the American Frances Tiafoe (number 17).
Zverev in the tie-break from the third set
The German Alexander Zverev (number 3) had much more problems, who needed three sets to beat the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor (number 40) 7-6 (8/6), 2-6 and 7-6 (7/5) in almost three hours of the game.
In the second round, Zverev will face the Belgian veteran David Goffin (number 66), who defeated the American Marcos Giron (number 47) by 1-6, 6-3 and 7-5.
In other matches of the day, seeds such as the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (number 10), the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (number 12), the Americans Taylor Fritz (number 7) and Ben Shelton (number 16) and the Dane Holger Rune ( number 14) all advanced to the next round.
In the round of 16, Shelton and Tsitsipas will be the rivals of number 1 Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev (number 5), respectively, Fritz will face Rune and the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz (number 2) will play against the French veteran Gael Monfils (number 46), who defeated his compatriot Ugo Humbert (number 15) by 7-6 (9/7), 2-6 and 6-1.
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