Novak Djokovic beats Marin Cilic for 40th win in Shanghai
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Serbia's Novak Djokovic in action during his round of 64 match against Croatia's Marin Cilic.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SHANGHAI – Novak Djokovic got his Shanghai Masters campaign up and running on Oct 3 when he overcame Marin Cilic 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in his bid for a record-extending fifth title.
The Serb did not have it easy, as he had to absorb his Croatian opponent’s 20 winners in the first set alone. However, counting on his experience, he bounced back to clinch victory in 1hr 55min.
At 38, Djokovic had recently suffered fitness concerns, including physical worries that affected him during the US Open in September.
In the end, he hung on to lead the 37-year-old Cilic 20-2 in their head-to-head record.
According to the ATP website, by claiming his 40th win in Shanghai, he became the first man to record 40 or more wins at six different ATP Masters 1000 events since the series was introduced in 1990.
His other wins were in Rome (68), Indian Wells (51), Paris (50), Miami (49) and Cincinnati (45).
“I struggled to find my rhythm from the baseline,” admitted Djokovic. “I (lacked) some matches – my last one was at the US Open – so I got a really tough opener against Marin, who when he 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.”
Before Djokovic’s match, American Ben Shelton became the first top-10 seed to be booted out of the tournament, beaten by 83rd-ranked David Goffin in straight sets.
The Belgian underdog, 34, beat 22-year-old Shelton, ranked sixth in the world, 6-2, 6-4.
Shelton has been recovering from a shoulder injury suffered at the US Open.
However, Goffin has form when it comes to eliminating top players.
In March, he upset world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in Miami and he knocked out world No. 3 Alexander Zverev in Shanghai in 2024.
In women’s tennis, Jessica Pegula fought back to beat fellow American Emma Navarro 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 6-1 for a date with Czech Linda Noskova in the China Open semi-finals.
On Oct 2, Djokovic said that talk about reorganising the tennis schedule has been going on for at least 15 years and his fellow players are “still not united enough”.
The amount of tennis the elite play was thrust back into the spotlight this week, after Alcaraz pulled out of the Shanghai Masters to rest and there were numerous injuries at the China Open.
Alcaraz and fellow Grand Slam champions Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek all took aim at the tennis calendar and railed against the number of tournaments they play.
Djokovic said it was “very complex” and similar complaints had been going on for years but to no avail.
“More than 15 years ago, I was talking about us needing to come together and reorganise the schedule,” said the Serb.
“It’s an individual sport... at the end of the day, you can still make choices.”
However, “there are people who just don’t want to change things in our sport for the better... when it comes to the players’ welfare”.
Players are “still not united enough”, or investing enough time and energy into trying to make change happen, according to Djokovic, who added: “You need the top players, particularly, to sit down and roll up their sleeves and really care.” AFP, REUTERS
