By Chris Oddo | Friday October 12, 2018
There’s no stopping Novak Djokovic at the moment.
The World No.3 powered past Kevin Anderson on Friday at the Shanghai Masters for his 16th consecutive win, 7-6(1), 6-3.
It was a brilliant day from the service stripe from Djokovic, who won 40 of 47 first-serve points and 11 of 18 second-serve points while facing just one break point against the World No.8.
Anderson’s only break point on the evening was a set point with Djokovic serving at 5-6 ad-out in the opener, and the Serb saved it when the South African’s forehand went wide after a brief rally.
Moments later Djokovic would seal the first set by winning a lopsided tiebreaker as he drove a backhand winner down the line into the open court.
The momentum was on Djokovic’s side and he used it to break early for a 2-0 lead in the second set when Anderson’s backhand found the net at the end of a 17-stroke rally.
It was all the cushion the red-hot Serb would need. He converted his third match point with a service winner to close affairs in one hour and 43 minutes.
Djokovic finished with 24 winners against 17 unforced errors, and improves to 7-1 lifetime against Anderson.
The three-time champion improves to 43-10 on the year and moves on to face Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on Saturday. The German moved past Kyle Edmund with ease in Friday’s first quarterfinal, 6-4, 6-4, to clinch qualification for this year’s Nitto ATP Finals in London.
Zverev, who is the fifth player to qualify for the elite eight-player field, saved the only break point he faced to pick up his tour-leading 49th win of the season. The 21-year-old won his only previous meeting with Djokovic in 2017 when he defeated the Serb in the Rome final.