Djokovic romps to Shanghai win despite injury scare

Serb beats Granollers in straight sets; Federer progresses too.

SHANGHAI: Defending champion Novak Djokovic shrugged off an injury scare to win his Shanghai Masters opener yesterday, keeping alive the prospect of a mouth-watering quarter-final with Roger Federer, who also progressed.

Top seed Djokovic cantered through the first set against Spain’s Marcel Granollers for the loss of only two games. But early in the second he pulled up in obvious discomfort and called for the ATP trainer, who applied heavy taping to his right foot and ankle.

Despite the medical treatment, the 26-year-old did not look inconvenienced as he returned to the court to seal a 6-2, 6-0 victory, hitting a total of 26 winners.

The Serb, newly dethroned from the number one ranking by Rafael Nadal, played down the incident afterwards.

“It was just an awkward movement,” he said. “I was in an off-balance position. I was running and I made a quick movement that caused a sharp pain at that instant moment.

“But after the match we determined that it’s nothing serious, so it’s all fine.”

Federer, who has slipped to seventh in the world rankings and faces a battle to qualify for next month’s World Tour Finals in London, won 6-4, 6-3 against Italian Andreas Seppi, after a testing start.

The Swiss great, playing his first match since a disappointing US Open, lost his serve early but broke back immediately against the world number 22, repeating the feat to take the opening set. A single break in the second was enough to seal the match.

World number one Rafael Nadal beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-2 to progress to the third round.

Earlier, German world number 23 Philipp Kohlschreiber rattled a feverish Juan Martin del Potro, striking 50 winners and 22 aces in a brave display of attacking tennis that had the Argentine searching for answers before he dug deep to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).

Del Potro, 25, said afterwards that he felt feverish, admitting he was lucky his opponent made errors at key moments in the tie-break.

“Last night I couldn’t sleep really well,” said the Argentine. “This morning I took a couple of pills, trying to help me feeling better. But I’m not 100 percent yet.

“I was lucky in the tie-break because he made a few mistakes with his backhand. I won a really tough match.”

Murray out of ATP tour finals

Andy Murray has withdrawn from next month’s ATP World Tour Finals in London as he continues his recovery from back surgery.

World number three Murray had an operation last month and the two-time Major winner confirmed yesterday what had long been suspected when he announced he wouldn’t be fit to play in the showpiece event.

“I’m really disappointed not to be playing this year, I love playing in front of my home crowd, it’s a great atmosphere,” said Murray.

“All the players look forward to competing in London and I’ll be doing my best to qualify again for the tournament next year.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2013.

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