Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a return shot to Marco Cecchinato of Italy during their men’s singles match of the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
SHANGHAI — Novak Djokovic earned partial revenge when he beat Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 6-0 to reach the Shanghai Masters quarterfinals on Thursday.
The only other time the second-seeded Djokovic played Cecchinato was in the French Open quarterfinals, where the Italian upset him in four sets.
A Masters event is a level below a Grand Slam, but Djokovic was rapt to crush Cecchinato.
“I was making him play always an extra shot,” Djokovic said. “I was aggressive when I needed to be. The second set was perfect, really.
“I wanted to start off well because I know that he battles hard and he makes you deserve every point, win every point.”
Since Djokovic lost that French Open match to Cecchinato, he’s won 28 of his 30 matches. The Serb is on a 15-match winning streak, which includes title runs at Cincinnati and the U.S. Open. He’s bidding to win a record fourth Shanghai title this week.
Djokovic saved both break points he faced on serve in the match and successfully broke Cecchinato’s serve on four of 11 offerings.
Djokovic will take on seventh-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa, whom he leads 6-1 on head-to-heads. Djokovic defeated Anderson in straight sets in the Wimbledon final in July.
Anderson ousted 10th-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-4, 7-6 (1).
Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany also advanced to the quarterfinals by pasting Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-1, 6-4.
Zverev will play 11th-seeded Kyle Edmund after the Briton defeated Nicolas Jarry of Chile 7-6 (5), 6-3.