Federer battles past Bautista Agut in Shanghai

TIL Desk Sports/ Twice Shanghai Masters champion Roger Federer was far from his best against Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut but did enough to reach the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win on Thursday. The top-seeded Swiss, who is fighting to defend the title and his world number two spot, broke in the fourth game and sealed the opening set with a crisp backhand volley.

But Bautista Agut, the 2016 finalist, was back on song in the second set and won four straight games before forcing a decider courtesy a stunning backhand return. Having lost a set for the first time in eight meetings with Bautista Agut, Federer cut down his errors before breaking in the ninth game en route to his 38th match win of the season.

In the last four the 37-year-old will face eighth-seeded Japanese Kei Nishikori, who knocked out big-serving American Sam Querrey 7-6(7), 6-4. Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Novak Djokovic exacted revenge over Italian Marco Cecchinato with a 6-4, 6-0 victory. The 31-year-old Serb is now unbeaten in 15 matches on the ATP tour and has won 28 of 30 matches since losing to then world number 72 Cecchinato in the French Open quarter-finals in June.