Novak Djokovic cruised to a 6-3 6-3 win over Fabio Fognini in one hour and 15 minutes to reach the third round at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, the penultimate Masters 1000. He is leading 8-0 in his head-to-head matches against Fognini.
Djokovic hadn’t played a match since losing the US Open final where he lost against Stan Wawrinka. He was forced to miss the China Open in Beijing due to an elbow injury.
The World Number 1 player converted four of his five break points, hit four aces and four double faults. He won 52 percent off his second serves and save three of the five break points on his serve. The Italian made seven double faults.
The Serbian player broke serve on his first attempt in the second game to a 2-0 lead as Fognini made a double fault. He had to save two break points in the seventh game to hold serve for 5-2 and served out for the first set after 37 minutes.
Both players traded breaks at the start of the second set. Djokovic got another break to take a 4-3 lead in the seventh game. Fognini made two consecutive double faults to drop his serve to love in the final game. Djokovic won 60 percent of his return points in the second set.
Djokovic has qualified for the Shanghai semifinal in all his six appearances in the Chinese tournament. He is bidding to win a fourth title at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
Grigor Dimitrov beat Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-4. The Bulgarian player, who lost the Beijing final against Andy Murray, last week broke four times and and won 72 percent of his second serve points to beat the Frenchman for the first time in their six head-to-head matches. It was a good match with spectacular shots by both players but Dimitrov won the most important points. Gasquet broke serve in the second game to race out to a 3-0 lead but Dimitrov fought back by winning the next five games to take a 5-3 lead thanks to a double break. He served for the set in the 10th game and held his serve after saving two break points.
Dimitrov went up a set and a break at the start of the second set and earned four break points in the fifth game. Gasquet saved them all and got the break back in the next game to draw level to 3-3. However, Dimitrov broke again in the seventh game and closed out the match three games later with two good service games.
Gael Monfils beat Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7-4) 6-3. The first set went on serve apart from the fifth game Monfils earned two break points but he did not convert them. Monfils finally broke serve in the 11th game. Anderson saved three set points in the 12th game before breaking back on his second opportunity. There were five mini break points in the breaker. Monfils got the decisive mini-break on the eighth point and closed out the first set with an ace. The second set went on serve until the eigth game when Monfils got the decisive break. He saved a break point before closing out the match with a volley
Gilles Simon cruised past Pablo Carreno Busta 6-0 6-3. The Frenchman fended off all five break points and won 73 percent of his service points. He won 31 out of 45 points and broke serve three times in the first set. Carreno Busta, who won the doubles title in Beijing with Rafa Nadal last Sunday, failed to convert three break points. Simon broke serve in the fourth game on his fourth chance to open up a 3-1 lead and held his next service games to wrap up the match after 71 minutes.
Jack Sock won a tight match against Guido Pella 7-6 7-5. Both players went on serve and came down to the tie-break. Sock won all his points on serve and got two mini-breaks in the fourth and fifth points to get the tie.break 7-3. Sock got his first break to build up a 3-0 lead but Pella broke back to claw his way back into the match for 2-3. Sock played a good return game and got his second break in the crucial final game of the match to clinch the win in straight sets.
Roberto Bautista Agut reached the second round after Bernard Tomic withdrew from the match as he was trailing 3-6 0-3
