Djokovic, Murray breeze into the round of 16, Nadal stays afloat in Shanghai Masters
WHILE DJOKOVIC AND MURRAY won comfortably in straight sets, the recently concluded China Open runner-up Nadal struggled against the towering Ivo Karlovic in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters 1000.
The Serb, looking to win the Beijing-Shanghai double for the third time, made light work of the Slovak, Martin Klizan 6-2,6-1. With this clinical win, the world’s best player improved his 2015 record to 69 wins to 5 losses.
Brimming with confidence, Djokovic told atpworldtour.com,
"I'm aware of the mental edge that I might have over a certain amount of players, and I try to use that.”
Next up in the round of 16, Djokovic will face Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez.
Like the Serb, the Scot too was impressive in brushing aside the challenge of American Steve Johnson 6-2, 6-4. Murray returned to action after leading Great Britain into the Davis Cup final with victory over Australia in Glasgow.
Relieved to have finished the match in 74 minutes, Murray said,
"I felt good, I thought I moved well from the beginning, struck the ball cleanly. I was happy with the way that I played and also the way my body felt. I thought I moved around the court very well. That's obviously an important part of my game. That was key."
Murray is a two-time champion in Shanghai and is slated to play the big-serving American John Isner in the third round.
A little later in the evening, Nadal found himself in a tricky position against the Croat in the first set, but rallied from a 3-5 deficit to nail the first set. However Karlovic, arguably, the best server in the men’s game responded by taking the former World No.1 the distance. But like all champions do, Nadal dug deep in the final set to seal the match in his favour 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(4).
The left-hander is showing signs of getting into the groove and is improving his chances of qualifying for Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The 2009 finalist here, Nadal will face Canadian Milos Raonic in the next round.
