By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday October 8, 2024

Novak Djokovic advanced his bid to earn his 100th ATP title in Shanghai this week with a breezy victory over a rising Italian. The 24-time major champion took out Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 6-2, setting a round of 16 matchup with Roman Safiullin at the Chinese Masters event.



Djokovic dominated from start to finish against the World No.28, and he needed just 63 minutes to push through to his 34th win of the season.

“Pretty sharp, from the beginning I had a clear gameplan, staying aggressive and trying to use very short ball to take the initiative in the point,” the 37-year-old said.

Djokovic hit 20 winners against 14 unforced errors; Cobolli managed just six winners against 20 unforced errors, and only won 33 of the 96 points that were played in the first-time meeting. 

Cobolli was up late on the previous day, as he worked past Stan Wawrinka in three sets, and he didn’t appear to have much left against the Grand Slam king on Tuesday.

“Cobolli was evidently exhausted after last night’s match,” Djokovic said. “I think that has taken a toll on him physically today.”

Djokovic never faced a break point and converted four breaks of serve against Cobolli. He dropped just seven points on serve overall.



Djokovic will be on court again tomorrow, and could be in action in four of the next five days if he is to reach all the way to the final. The four-time Shanghai champion improved to 36-5 in Shanghai and he says a heavy workload shouldn’t be a problem.

“I don’t mind that, he said. “I haven’t played too many matches. The positive is that is that I’m fresh, so I’m happy to play every day for as long as it takes.

"Looking forward to tomorrow's match that is going to be against Safiullin, who is playing really well on the fast surfaces. I played him couple times before, I know his quality, I know that what he can do on the court. He loves to play fast, take the ball on the rise, so I have to be very sharp for that one."

More to follow…