Top seed Novak Djokovic produced a roller coaster performance during his 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3, win over Germany’s Mischa Zverev in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters.
The world No.1, who has won the Shanghai title three times in his career, appeared to occasionally struggle on the court with his mentality as well as his form as he ended Zverev’s impressive run in China. 29-year-old Zverev was playing in his first Masters 1000 quarter-final since Rome 2009.
Positioned over 100 places higher than Zverev in the world rankings, the world No.1 struggled with his consistency and serve throughout the opening set against the inspired German. Djokovic’s first blunder occurred in the third game of the match when back-to-back forehand errors gifted his opponent a break for 3-1. Zverev stuck to his game plan with a series of world class shots that the top seed couldn’t contend with. Trailing 3-5, Djokovic squandered a 40-0 lead in his service game as more costly errors on both the forehand and backhand side enabled the underdog to seal the opening set.
After his lacklustre first set, consisting of 18 unforced errors and a 47% winning first service rate, alarm bells started to ring for the Djokovic camp. Going behind 0-2 in the second set following a double fault, the Serbian finally gained some match momentum when he broke back to love immediately in the next game. Continuing the trade of breaks, the top seed hit a crosscourt winner to grab a 4-3 advantage before being pegged back once again thanks to some fierce pressure applied by the qualifier. The failure to seize the opportunities by both men resulted in a decisive second set tiebreak.
Racing to a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker thanks to a duo of errors from the qualifier, there were still questions regarding Djokovic’s mentality. Closing in on the second set win with a 5-2 lead, he unexpectedly waved to his fans in the crowd as his focus varied. Nevertheless, the Serbian still managed to close the second set out, thanks to a serve out wide that was unsuccessfully returned.
The efforts invested by the defending champion in turning the match around triggered an implosion in Zverev’s game. A poor service game allowed the world No.1 to finally grab a stronghold in the match as he raced to a 3-0 lead in the decider. Even the luck of the net calls was on Djokovic’s side as the underdog began to despair with his change of fortunes. Edging towards his seventh semi-final at the tournament, the comeback victory was sealed when a lengthy rally between the two concluded with a Zverev forehand drifting out.
“I have to give credit to Mischa who played a great match.” Djokovic said during his on court interview. “He was a great player during most of the match and it was very challenging to play against him today. He’s one of the few players that comes to the net, he has a great serve and is very skillful at the net.”
Djokovic’s lacklustre performance (45 winners and 37 unforced errors) comes as uncertainty grows about the future of his partnership with Boris Becker. The two have worked together since January 2014, winning numerous titles on the tour. Speaking in Shanghai the world No.1 remained coy about if he would continue working with Becker in 2017.
“We are still working (together), yeah… for now the plan is the rest of the season, what’s left, indoor tournaments,” Djokovic said earlier this week.
Discussing the collaboration beyond this year, Djokovic revealed that no agreement has been made between the two. “We still haven’t talked about it,” the defending champion said when asked.
In the last four Djokovic will play Roberto Bautista Agut, a player who he has a 5-0 head-to-head record against. The Spanish 15th seed progressed to the semifinals following a 6-3, 6-4, win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Bautista Agut’s win has elevated him to only his second Masters 1000 semi final and first since the 2014 Madrid Open.
