Novak has booked his place within the spherical of 16 on the Rolex Shanghai Masters for the eleventh time in his profession.
The fourth seed battled previous German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann, ranked No. 150 on this planet, after two hours and 42 minutes of exhausting tennis, profitable 4–6, 7–5, 6–3 within the third-round encounter.
“It took loads of power in each sense. Bodily, it was a really exhausting match, with excessive humidity on the courtroom. I additionally had a gradual begin, dropping my serve early, which was sufficient for him to take the primary set. Breaking his serve was very powerful; studying his serve and even getting near a break level was almost unimaginable till the top of the second set. That’s after I began to search out his rhythm and adapt to the tempo of his pictures. He performed fantastically. I used to be a bit extra passive and didn’t really feel at my finest on the courtroom. However the crowd… they have been unbelievable, lifting me and giving me assist, and I’m actually grateful for that in serving to me safe the win,” Novak stated after the match.
Though Hanfmann entered the primary draw by the qualifying rounds, he produced tennis worthy of a top-10 participant, difficult Novak from the very begin.
The German dominated the opening set with fearless and aggressive play, serving strongly and holding Novak from discovering his rhythm. He transformed his third break level within the third sport and maintained that result in take the set 6–4.
The second set noticed a extra balanced contest, with each gamers holding serve firmly and buying and selling highly effective baseline rallies. Hanfmann continued to serve nicely, whereas Novak stayed affected person, ready for his likelihood. After 11 consecutive holds, the Serbian star raised his stage within the essential twelfth sport, incomes two break factors and changing the primary to take the set 7–5 and stage the match.
Within the deciding set, Novak lastly took full management. After two bodily demanding units, he broke Hanfmann within the fourth sport and by no means seemed again. Enjoying with renewed confidence and precision on serve, he calmly closed out the match to safe his spot within the subsequent spherical.
Within the spherical of 16, Novak will face Spain’s Jaume Munar, the world No. 41, who defeated Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 2–1 within the third spherical.
The 2 have met solely as soon as earlier than, seven years in the past within the second spherical of Roland Garros, with Novak popping out on prime.
Picture: Profimedia
