Djokovic in top gear

Shanghai, October 9

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic extended his winning run in Asia when he strolled into the last-16 of the Shanghai Masters with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Canada's Denis Shapovalov today. The ATP Masters 1000 event is the Serb's second tournament since a US Open fourth round withdrawal due to a shoulder injury and arrived in Shanghai on the back of winning the Japan Open over the weekend without dropping a set.

Djokovic, the defending champion, broke the 20-year-old Canadian three times and never dropped serve, wrapping up the match in 70 minutes to set up a clash with American John Isner, who beat Frenchman Lucas Pouille 7-5 6-3.

Austrian fourth seed Dominic Thiem, who won the China Open in Beijing at the weekend, beat Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6(3) 6-3 to set up a last-16 clash with Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili. After the opening set went with serve until the tiebreak, Thiem needed only one break of serve in the second to advance.

Fifth seed Alexander Zverev saved three set points in a 16-minute opening set tiebreak during his straight-set victory over French qualifier Jeremy Chardy, winning 7-6(13) 7-6(3) in one hour and 47 minutes. The second-set tiebreak  had a lighter moment — Zverev losing his grip while hitting a shot, and his racquet flying into the crowd.

Greece's sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas came out on top in two tiebreaks to beat Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6(3) 7-6(3) in their second round match.

"I knew it was going to be tough, and it was very tough," Tsitsipas, who plays Poland's Hubert Hurkacz next, said. "I think, mostly, the concentration that I have put and the work that I have put into that match, I still felt like I had to put a lot in order to get that outcome at the end." The top three seeds Djokovic, Roger Federer and US Open runners-up Daniil Medvedev all play in the last-16 tomorrow. — Reuters