Novak Djokovic is through to the round of 16 at the high-profile Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai after an emphatic 6-1, 6-2 win over Flavio Cobolli. The former world number 1 got the job done in just over an hour of play.
Cobolli, who knocked out Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka in the previous round, had no resistance against the four-time champion. Nole made two breaks of serve in both sets and promptly continues in the next phase, where an unseeded opponent awaits him in the face of Roman Safiullin.
The Russian surprised US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe and defeated him in dramatic fashion 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5). With a victory over Safiulin and win of Bulgaria's best tennis player Grigor Dimitrov over Jakub Menshik, Djokovic and Dimitrov will face each other in the 1/4-finals.
Among the other clear round-of-16 pairings, world number 1 Jannik Sinner plays Ben Shelton, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev will battle it out, and in-form Carlos Alcaraz takes on French veteran Gael Monfils. | BGNES
