Novak Đoković, the most successful tennis player of all time, advanced to the third round of the Shanghai Masters after on Friday defeating another veteran – Marin Čilić.
The score was 7:6 (2), 6:4 for the 38-year-old Serb, who now holds a 20-2 record in head-to-head matches with the Croatian player.
— SportBot (@SportBot11) October 3, 2025
Novak’s next rival will be German Yannick Hanfmann, the world’s No. 150, who earlier on Friday eliminated American Frances Tiafoe 2-1. A good piece of news for Đoković is that Ben Shelton, projected as his quarterfinal opponent, was eliminated in Shanghai by veteran David Goffin.
This was Novak’s first match since September 5, when he lost in the US Open semifinal to Carlos Alcaraz, so there was much discussion about how the Serb would look after a longer absence from the court. However, Nole quickly dispelled the doubts, dominating the world No. 94 at the end of the first set and throughout the second.
Novak Djokovic.
— Danny (@DjokovicFan_) October 3, 2025
A genius on and off the court. 🐐pic.twitter.com/oYuYKSJBWk
Interestingly, the clash between Đoković and Čilić is officially the “oldest” since the Masters series has been played. The Serbian and Croatian Grand Slam champions had a combined age of 75 years and 139 days in this duel.
Đoković is fighting in China for the 101st ATP title of his monumental career. He reached the milestone 100 earlier this year in Geneva at the ATP 250 series tournament.
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Source:SportKlub; Foto: Rolex Shanghai Masters