ATP Shanghai Masters quarterfinals set

There were to be few upsets at the Shanghai Masters on Thursday, with world No.1 Novak Djokovic comfortably accounting for John Isner in the last 16.

Djokovic was one of the tournament’s top six seeds who progressed to the quarterfinals, setting up some blockbuster showdowns at the hard-court event.

Second seed Roger Federer also advanced, his 7-6(7) 6-4 win over Belgian David Goffin — during which he saved five set points in the opening set — booking a last-eight showdown with fifth seed Alexander Zverev.

Zverev accounted for Andrey Rublev 6-0 7-6(4).

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“I never really felt like I had the upper hand over David today. I thought he did a really good job. He was so much better than at the US Open,” Federer told atptour.com in reference to his 6-2 6-2 6-0 thumping of Goffin at Flushing Meadows.

Isner served his 1,000th ace of the season but it wasn’t enough to stop defending champion Djokovic, who won 7-5 6-3.

Top-seeded Djokovic is on a 24-set winning streak in Asia dating back to last year’s Shanghai Masters. He won his inaugural appearance at the Japan Open last week without losing a set.

The Serb will next face Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in a third-set tiebreak.

Isner’s nine aces against Djokovic took him to 1,007 for the year, reaching the 1,000+ milestone for the sixth season overall.

Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev continued his quest to reach a sixth consecutive ATP tour final after beating Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil 7-6(7) 7-5 in their round-of-16 match.

The 248th-ranked Pospisil lost his bid to become the third qualifier ever to make the Shanghai quarterfinals after failing to capitalise on five set points in the first set, including two chances in the tiebreaker.

Medvedev’s frustration got the better of him when Pospisil led 4-2, 40-30 in the first set, which led to him smashing his racket repeatedly into the ground at the baseline.

“I usually don’t like to do it, to break the rackets, because it’s never beautiful,” Medvedev said. “But it’s true that sometimes it maybe can help to get some emotions out and get also the stress out.”

Third-seeded Medvedev, who reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open in September, leads the tour this year with 56 match victories. He next plays 10th-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy in the quarterfinals.

Marching on…

3rd seed @DaniilMedwed defeats Pospisil 7-6 7-5 to set a last 8 clash with Fognini at @SH_RolexMasters ???? pic.twitter.com/XAjmMeTUJB

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 10, 2019

“I think (he’s) the worst player I can play at the moment,” Fognini said of Medvedev. “He’s really dangerous.”

Fognini beat seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-3 7-5. Khachanov had won their first career meeting in three sets at the China Open quarterfinals in Beijing.

“I’m happy because I was losing to him last week and I was playing really good also,” 10th-seeded Fognini said.

The 11th-seeded Matteo Berrettini of Italy outlasted No. 8 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-6(5) 6-4.

Also progressing to the last eight was No.4 seed Dominic Thiem, a 6-3 6-4 winner over Nikoloz Basilashvili.