Novak Djokovic Vs Jaume Munar, Shanghai Masters: How Serbian Battled His Way Into Quarters

Novak Djokovic overcame an early injury scare and three-set battle with Jaume Munar to progress to the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters. 

Djokovic appeared to injure his left leg in the first set and received multiple medical timeouts during his 6-3 5-7 6-2 triumph over Munar to reach the last eight for an 11th time. 

The Serbian immediately took a medical time out after breaking to take a 3-1 lead in the first set and grimaced at times as he was treated for the issue courtside. 

Djokovic was able to close out the set with some dominant serving before needing treatment again early in the second set. 

The heat and humidity also saw Djokovic vomit on the court with the score at 5-5 in the second and after firing a forehand wide to see the encounter go the distance, the 38-year-old collapsed and lay flat on his back.

But he dusted himself down and recovered from 40-15 down to break Munar in the opening game of the decider, and built on his momentum from there. 

Remarkably, Djokovic was able to close out the triumph in style, sealing his progression to the next round after Munar sent a backhand long of the far baseline. 

Djokovic's reward for his hard-fought win is a clash with Zizou Bergs, who emerged victorious from his own titanic tussle with Gabriel Diallo earlier in the day. 

After losing the opening set, Bergs roared back to clinch a stunning 3-6 7-5 7-6 (10-8) triumph. 

Indeed, the Belgian reached a quarter-final and claimed multiple wins from a set down at an ATP Masters 1000 event (including retirements) for the first time in his career. 

And he was joined in the quarter-finals by 10th seed Holger Rune, who also needed three sets to dispatch the big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. 

Rune ran out a 6-4 6-7 (7-9) 6-3 victor in two hours and 28 minutes. He has now reached an 11th quarter-final at ATP Masters 1000 events, trailing just Carlos Alcaraz (18) and Jannik Sinner (17) among players born since 2000.

Data Debrief: Djokovic digs deep

No player has won the Shanghai Masters more times than Djokovic (four), though at times against Munar it looked as though he would be unable to add to his title collection. 

However, he kept his hopes of a record-extending 41st ATP Masters 1000 title alive here, and is now among the favourites to lift the trophy, given he is the highest ranked seed left in the competition in China. 

Astonishingly, since the format's introduction in 1990, at 38 years and 133 days, Djokovic is now the oldest player to reach an ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final, surpassing Roger Federer (38y 60d), who achieved the feat in Shanghai in 2019.