Novak Djokovic beat Marin Cilic 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 after 1 hour and 55 minutes to reach the third round at the Shanghai Rolex Masters for the 11th consecutive time. Djokovic is chasing a record fifth title in the Shanghai tournament and his first Masters 1000 tournament in nearly two years.
Both players served well in the first ten games before Cilic earned two break points in the 11th game. Djokovic saved them to hold serve after five deuces.
Djokovic earned four mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-2 after 70 minutes.
Djokovic earned the only break of the match in the third game of the second set. The former world number 1 player held his next three service games at love to take a 5-3 lead and saved two break points as he was serving for the match at 5-4. The Serbian player fired an ace on a match point to seal his first win since the US Open quarter final.
Djokovic leads 20-2 in his head-to-head matches against Cilic.
Novak Djokovic: “I struggled to find my rhythm from the baseline. I lacked some matches, so I got a really tough opener against Marin, who when is feeling the ball, is so dangerous and can beat anybody. He didn’t give me time to breathe, so I think I dug myself out of trouble with good serving, which obviously makes me happy.”
Djokovic is returning to Shanghai since his defeat to Jannik Sinner in last year’s edition final. Djokovic could face Sinner once again if they both reach the semifinals in 2025.
Djokovic will face a third round match against German qualifier Yannik Hanfmann, who upset Frances Tiafoe.Djokovic clinched his 40th win in Shanghai. He became the first player to score 40 or more wins at six different Masters 1000 tournaments since the introduction of the series in 1990.
