Top seed Novak Djokovic improved to a 47-8 record in 2019 on Wednesday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, moving past Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-3 to reach the last 16.
Novak wasted no time putting pressure on the Canadian. He broke once in the first set and twice in the second set to complete his 882nd career win. The 32-year-old Serbian star saved one break point he faced during the clash.
“It’s nice to be back. It feels very good to play as well as I did today,” Djokovic said. “I knew that Denis is very dangerous player. He was serving really well, high percentage of first serves, it was difficult to return in the first set, so it took me some time to adjust, start reading his serve a little bit better. But I served really well. I used angles. I was very solid from back of the court. I had no problems with the shoulder pain. So no concerns there. Everything is feeling and looking good.”
Match statistics: aces (3-5), double faults (0-2), winners (21-16), unforced errors (12-27), total points won (66-40).
For a place in the quarter-finals Novak will next meet John Isner (USA) on Thursday about 08.45 CET. The sixteenth-seeded American defeated Lucas Pouille in straight sets (7-5, 6-3).
Novak leads their ATP H2H series 9-2.
Photo: Profimedia
