Novak Djokovic makes winning return to action over Marin Cilic at Shanghai Masters

Novak Djokovic made a winning return to action at the 2025 Rolex Shanghai Masters on Friday, dispatching Marin Cilic, 7-6 (2), 6-4 in his first match since the US Open last month.

Djokovic, who is currently ranked fourth in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin, improved to 20-2 against the former world No. 3, advancing in one hour and 54 minutes on Stadium Court.

🖥️📲The Match in 15 Minutes: Novak Djokovic def. Marin Cilic, Shanghai 2R

A 24-time Grand Slam champion, Djokovic had not planned to compete at the Masters 1000 tournament in the immediate aftermath of his semifinal defeat to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz, but left the door open when suggesting a newfound motivation to play more tournaments.

“I do fancy my chances a bit more in best-of-three, I guess, one-week tournaments or the Masters tournaments, where you have almost two weeks with quite a few days between matches,” the 38-year-old said, having previously espoused a desire to prioritize Grand Slam tournaments.

Djokovic reached the semifinals of all four major tournaments in 2025 but was unable to add to his already-considerable title haul after injury forced him to retire at the Australian Open followed by losses to Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

Spurred on by the warm crowd reception on Arthur Ashe Stadium, the former world No. 1 showed no signs of hanging up his racquets and hit the ground running this week in Shanghai, where he reached the final in 2024.

"The amount of support I've been getting since that year has been incredible in China, both Beijing and Shanghai," Djokovic said in his pre-tournament press conference. "I just love coming back and performing in front of the crowd that always gives me great energy, great vibes. Every practice session it feels like playing a match, honestly, with the amount of people that is there screaming and really willing to show their support and show their love and passion for what I do.

"So, I feel very welcome, and that's probably the biggest reason why I decided to come here, to be honest with you, because I just feel good playing here, and feel like I'm at home. Probably, outside of my country, the biggest support that I've been getting anywhere in the world."

Navigating a first-set tiebreaker against the 2014 US Open champion, the fourth-seeded Djokovic nabbed an early break in the second set as he looked to win a 20th match against Cilic.

Serving for the match, Djokovic dealt with frustration at the finish line—even getting a time violation—but saved two break points and ultimately secured victory with an ace. A clean stat sheet saw Djokovic end the match with 21 winners to just 15 unforced errors.

Up next for the four-time Shanghai champion will be German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann, who twice rallied from a set down to score back-to-back victories over Lorenzo Sonego and No. 25 seed Frances Tiafoe.