Djokovic does damage to Chardy in first round of Shanghai Masters
NOVAK Djokovic began his quest for a fourth Shanghai Masters crown with a straight-sets victory over France’s Jeremy Chardy.
The Serbian, who lifted the most recent of his three titles in 2015 and had a bye for the first round, won 6-3, 7-5 in an hour and 24 minutes.
Djokovic’s success sets up a last16 meeting with either Marco Cecchinato, who defeated him in the French Open quarter-finals this year, or Korean Chung Hyeon, a 6-4 2-6 6-1 winner against Hubert Hurkacz.
Sixth seed Dominic Thiem crashed out following a three-set defeat to Australian Matthew Ebden.
The French Open finalist lost a close encounter 6-4 6-7 (10/8) 7-6 (7/4) to the unseeded 30-year-old.
Fifth seed Marin Cilic was another second-round casualty, losing 2-6 7-6 (8/6) 7-5 to Chilean Nicolas Jarry.
Cilic’s fellow Croatian Borna Coric, a first-round winner against Stan Wawrinka, continued his progress by beating American qualifier Bradley Klahn 6-4 6-2, while German Peter Gojowczyk defeated Marton Fucsovics 6-4 6-7 (7/3) 7-6 (7/5).
In the first round, British number one Kyle Edmund battled through with an unconvincing straight-sets win over Filip Krajinovic.
The 23-year-old was given a stern test by the world number 35 and looked in trouble at 4-2 and a break point down before eventually progressing 7-5 6-3
He was set to face experienced Italian Andreas Seppi in the last 32 of the competition this morning.
Top seed Roger Federer, who, like Djokovic, had a first-round bye, awaits Daniil Medvedev in the second round after the Russian came from a set down to beat wildcard Zhang Ze 3-6 7-6 (9/7) 6-4.