Novak Djokovic will attempt to capture his ninth title of the year – and third at the Shanghai Rolex Masters – when he starts his bid against Martin Klizan, who recorded his 30th match win of the year on Monday by beating wild card Ze Zhang 7-6(8), 6-2.
Sixth seed Kei Nishikori, who is bidding to clinch one of the four remaining spots at next month’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, will open his quest against Nick Kyrgios, who got off to a strong start by striking 13 aces, and saving all five break points he faced, in a 6-3, 6-2 win over Andreas Haider-Maurer.
“Kei’s one of the best players in the world right now,” said Kyrgios. “He’s got unbelievable returns. He’s a great athlete. He’s playing well. So I know what I have to do. At the same time, I’m going to go out there and enjoy the experience. That’s why you play the game. You play the game to play these top guys.”
Ivo Karlovic will take aim at eighth seed and 2009 runner-up Rafael Nadal, yesterday’s China Open finalist (l. to Djokovic), in the second round after he fired down 18 aces to beat Jeremy Chardy for the first time in their third meeting, 6-4, 7-6(6). Karlovic surpassed Goran Ivanisevic’s ATP World Tour aces record last week in Beijing.
Elsewhere, John Isner, the No. 13 seed, needed just 46 minutes to beat Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 6-2. Isner hit 20 aces for his 40th match win of 2015.
Roberto Bautista Agut lost just six of his first service points to beat fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-3 in 79 minutes, while this year’s three-time ATP World Tour titlist Dominic Thiem defeated qualifier Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-3. Thiem goes on to face 15th seed and three-time semi-finalist Feliciano Lopez, who defeated qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov 6-4, 7-6(3).
( Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/djokovic-to-face-klizan-in-shanghai-2015-opener )
Topics: Andreas Haider-Maurer, Atp World Tour, Ivo Karlovic, Kei Nishikori, Martin Klizan, Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Shanghai Rolex Masters, Tennis News, Ze Zhang
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