Novak Djokovic and Kyle Edmund up and running, Marin Cilic and Dominic Thiem out

Shahida Jacobs
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Novak Djokovic in action

Novak Djokovic kicked off his campaign for a fourth Shanghai Masters title with a solid win over Jeremy Chardy.

Playing in his first ATP Tour event since the US Open, the world No 3 required only one hour and 24 minutes to beat the Frenchman 6-3, 7-5, and secure his place in the third round.

Two breaks of serve in the opening set and one in the second were enough to earn the reigning Wimbledon and US Open champion the victory.

“I’m very grateful to play on a high level. I think that I’m very close to my best, you know, and [my] ‘best’ changes day to day,” the Serb said.

“I can always strive to be the best I can be on that given day. Today’s performance was pretty close to that.”

Next up is either Marco Cecchinato or Hyeon Chung, who beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.

Kyle Edmund had a trickier encounter as he came back from an early break in the first set to beat Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-3.

Krajinovic had the early advantage after breaking in game two, but Edmund hit back in games eight and 12, and then claimed a solitary break in the second set.

The 11th seed will face Andreas Seppi for a place in the third round.

Fifth seed Marin Cilic was the biggest casualty as the former US Open champion was beaten 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 by Nicolas Jarry from Chile.

Dominic Thiem also crashed out as the sixth seed went down in a three-set marathon against Matthew Ebden with the Australian winning 6-4, 6-7 (8-10), 7-6 (7-4) in two hours and 48 minutes.

Ebden will face Peter Gojowczyk after the German saw off Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5).

Meanwhile, Nikoloz Basilashvili continued his good form as the Georgian, fresh from winning the China Open, beat Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-2 to earn himself a second-round clash against fourth seed Alexander Zverev.

Japan Open winner Daniil Medvedev booked a date with top seed Roger Federer with a 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win over Ze Zhang.

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