Novak Djokovic beats old foe Marin Cilic in historic match on return at Shanghai Masters: ‘I dug myself out of trouble’

Novak Djokovic made an impressive return to competitive tennis as he defeated Marin Cilic in the second round of the Shanghai Masters on Friday. Djokovic, 38, defeated Cilic, 37, 7-6(2) 6-4 in his first match since losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open semi-final.

This is also the 24-time Grand Slam winner’s first ATP tournament appearance since May, highlighting how selective Djokovic has been about the tournaments he plays and his burning desire to win a record 25th major title. No tennis player, male or female, has ever won 25 Grand Slam titles. Djokovic currently shares the record of most Major titles with Margaret Court.

Djokovic, CIlic make tennis history

Nonetheless, Djokovic made a new record in his match against Cilic as it was the oldest combined game in Masters 1000 history. Cilic, a former US Open winner, had defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round, while Djokovic received a bye to round two.

Cilic gave a tough fight to Djokovic in their match as he was the first to create a break point opportunity at 5-5. And an 11th straight point on serve for him forced a tie breaker in the opening set, but the Croatian’s service game deserted him in the breaker. He could only secure two points, that also on Djokovic’s serve, as the Serbian clinched the first set 7-6(2) after a 67-minute rally.

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Early in the second set at 1-1, Djokovic looked slightly uncomfortable with his body as he was seen breaking into a few stretches, but he recovered quickly to make it 3-1. The biggest weapon for Djokovic in the second set was his serve. Till 5-2, Djokovic had not dropped a single point on his serve, but faced two break points at this juncture.

Djokovic was given a time violation warning on the second break point, but he kept his calm as Cilic went long. He quickly clinched the game with an ace.

“Tons of respect for Marin and all he has achieved, and who he is as a person. We get along very well off the court, obviously speak the same language, we’ve known each other so many years,” Djokovic said after the beating Cilic. “We haven’t played for, I think, maybe the last time was three years ago, so great to see him back playing at this level. For me, I did struggle to find my rhythm from the baseline.

“I lacked some matches, obviously, US Open was the last one, so I got a really tough opening match here against Marin, who, when he’s feeling the ball, he can be so dangerous, he can beat anybody. He was so aggressive, playing deep in the court, and didn’t give me time to breathe. I think I dug myself out of trouble with some good serving today which obviously makes me happy knowing I served well.”

Djokovic faces Yannick Hanfmann of Germany in round three on Sunday.