Novak Djokovic had to come through a difficult test in the third round of the Shanghai Masters.
Djokovic earned a comeback victory against Yannick Hanfmann after narrowly conceding the first set to the German, 6-4.
The Serb is playing in his first tournament since suffering a semifinal defeat at the US Open to Carlos Alcaraz, and has claimed two wins so far during the Asian swing.
He has picked up where he left off in his return to action on the ATP Tour, and Djokovic says there is one shot in his game that has helped him get off to a triumphant start in Shanghai.
Novak Djokovic reacts to his performance against Yannick Hanfmann
“Life on the court is easier or more difficult if you’re serving good or bad,” said the 24-time Grand Slam champion in his post-match press conference.
“The first couple of matches here, I must say that probably stands out as the best shot in my game. It makes a difference, you know. It made a difference for him.
“He broke my serve early in the first, and he held his serve comfortably all the way until the end of the second. So even though the courts are slower than they were last year, and the balls as well.
“But if you’re hitting your spots well with the serve, it’s tough, it’s tough to break serve. I’m really glad with the way I’m serving.
‘I need to improve my game overall from the baseline. I know what needs to be better, and hopefully it will be in the next round already.”
Novak Djokovic’s serving statistics against Yannick Hanfmann
Djokovic fired seven aces against Hanfmann, and only tallied one double fault throughout their third-round contest.
He enjoyed a first-serve win percentage of 85%, and came out on top in 59% of points on his second serve.
Of the three break-point opportunities Hanfmann earned against Djokovic, he was only able to capitalise on one of them.
The 38-year-old won 66 service points altogether and will hope to have even more success on serve against Jaume Munar in the fourth round.
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