Imperious Djokovic gains Cecchinato revenge

Novak Djokovic gained revenge over Marco Cecchinato with a commanding straight-sets victory to reach the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters. Djokovic was left shell-shocked after Cecchinato pulled off a stunning upset to deny him a place in the semi-finals of the French Open in June.

Just over an hour on court

The Serbian has since taken his tally of grand slam titles to 14 by winning Wimbledon and the US Open and was imperious once again on Thursday, taking just 69 minutes to beat the Italian 6-4 6-0. Djokovic, who can replace Roger Federer at number two in the rankings next week, was near flawless as he marched into the last eight with a swagger, hitting 20 winners and making only 11 unforced errors. 

Frustration creeps in

The three-time Shanghai Masters champion had a first-serve percentage of 81 and returned superbly in a third-round contest which he dictated from the baseline, setting up a repeat of the Wimbledon final against Kevin Anderson. Djokovic threw his racket down in frustration after failing to break the 16th seed in the third game, but seized the initiative when Cecchinato failed to hold and went 4-3 down.

Level up

The second seed moved to another level in the second set, bullying the Palermo native with venomous groundstrokes and not giving him a glimpse of opportunity to break. Djokovic toyed with Cecchinato, with his loss in Paris no doubt still fresh in the mind, and went through at a canter when the world number 21 netted a backhand after being rushed by a volley at the net from the domineering favourite.