Flawless Djokovic cruises to Shanghai quarterfinals
The Serb tennis star avenged his French Open loss, beating Marco Cecchinato in straight sets
SHANGHAI: Novak Djokovic enjoyed a measure of revenge as he booked his spot in the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-0 demolition of Marco Cecchinato on Thursday.
The Serbian second seed was stunned by the Italian — ranked 72 in the world at the time — in the French Open quarter-finals earlier this year. It was part of the wretched run of form Djokovic suffered in the first half of the year after elbow surgery in February. But the world number three exploded back to life in the northern hemisphere summer, winning Wimbledon, the Cincinnati Masters and US Open.
The 31-year-old blazed past Cecchinato in just over an hour.
Djokovic will play South Africa’s Kevin Anderson who defeated Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 7-6.
Reigning champion Roger Federer was pushed all the way for the second match in a row before beating Roberto Bautista Agut to squeeze into the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals on Thursday.
The top seed and 20-time Grand Slam winner emerged from another nervy battle to eventually defeat the 28th-ranked Spaniard 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Rising star Alexander Zverev was similarly emphatic as he brushed aside Australia’s new number one, teenager Alex de Minaur 6-1, 6-4. The German fourth seed will face 11th seed Kyle Edmund in the last eight.
The 21-year-old Zverev was ruthless as he took the first set in just 29 minutes, although his 19-year-old opponent showed more fight in the second.
Zverev ratcheted up the pressure to grab the all-important break of serve in the ninth game before closing out the match against de Minaur.
Edmund, Britain’s number one, defeated Chile’s Nicolas
REIGNING CHAMPION ROGER FEDERER WAS PUSHED ALL THE WAY FOR THE SECOND MATCH IN A ROW BEFORE BEATING ROBERTO BAUTISTA AGUT
Jarry 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
GARCIA, MERTENS IN TIANJIN QUARTERS
TIANJIN: Second-seeded Caroline Garcia of France moved into the Tainjin Open quarter-finals after defeating Chinese qualifier Zhang Yuxuan 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday. The 16th-ranked Garcia will play sixth-seeded Petra Martic of Croatia for a semi-final berth on Friday.
Third-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium also advanced by defeating Slovakian qualifier Jana Cepelova 6-2, 6-3.
Mertens’s serve was broken both times she offered Cepelova an opportunity, but Mertens had the upper hand by breaking serve six times in the match.
Mertens will play fifth-seeded Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan in the quarters.
Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland reached the quarterfinals with a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Japanese qualifier Misaki Doi.
Ranked No. 329, Bacsinszky is on the comeback trail following a long layoff with a right leg injury. This marks her first successive wins since Wimbledon last year.
Bacsinszky will take on fourthseeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the quarterfinals.
The 101st-ranked Katie Boulter of Britain advanced her cause to earn a top-100 ranking for the first time by securing a quarterfinal berth. Boulter defeated Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to arrange a quarter-final against top-seeded Karolina Pliskova.