No.2 seed Novak Djokovic put in a dominant performance to beat 16th seed Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 6-0 on Thursday and reach the Rolex Shanghai Masters last 8.
In a rematch of their French Open quarterfinal, Novak needed just 69 minutes to avenge the loss. The world no.3 capitalised on four of his 11 break points, displaying great game with powerful serve and some amazing shots. He broke the Italian once in the first set to move ahead and then raised the bar way too high for his rival, storming to the comprehensive win with a triple break in the second set.
“I’m pleased with the way I have been using my serve accurately and effectively in the first two matches, which is very important,” said Djokovic. “I was making him play always an extra shot. I was aggressive when I needed to be. The second set was perfect. I’m really glad to be able to finish the match the way I did.”
Match statistics: aces (7-3), double faults (0-3), winners (20-14), unforced errors (11-23), total points won (66-39).
For a place in the semi-finals, Novak faces no.7 seed Kevin Anderson on Friday.
The South African advanced with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE, 10).
