Novak Djokovic will attempt to continue his steady bid at the Shanghai Masters 2016 when he battles Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut in the semifinal round of the tournament.
Djokovic narrowly avoided elimination at the Shanghai Rolex Masters when he faced Germany's Mischa Zverev in the quarterfinal round of the tournament. The top seed Djokovic came within a tie-breaker of losing from Zverev before regaining composure to earn a 3-6 7-6(4) 6-3 victory and advance into the semifinals.
"I had to dig myself out of a hole," Djokovic, reports the ATP's official website. "He was the better player for most of the first part of the match. He was up a set and a break, [then] a game away from winning. Tactically played well. He slowed down the pace."
Djokovic next faces Bautista Agut, who is on an impressive run of his own in Shanghai. Djokovic has won all of his five meetings against Bautista Agut, who ranks No. 19 in the world. Their most recent showdown was in this year's edition of the French Open, where Djokovic won his 12th Grand Slam single title.
But despite being up by 5-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head career matchups, Djokovic acknowledges Bautista Agut's game this season, especially after easing past ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-4 in their quarterfinal clash.
"[Bautista Agut] plays very consistently with the slower pace from the baseline," Djokovic said.
"He's also somebody that has tremendous anticipation on the court. I think he reads the game very well. He's a smart player. He's been playing very well throughout the week. I saw a little bit of his match against Jo today. He's very solid. He's not going to give you the win. So I need to obviously earn it."
A win for Djokovic would get him close to successfully defending his crown at the Shanghai Masters and winning his first title since losing at the US Open against Stan Wawrinka. The winner between Djokovic and Bautista Agut moves into the final round to face either world No. 2 Andy Murray or Gilles Simon.
Live streaming info and score updates
Watch Novak Djokovic vs Roberto Bautista Agut live via TennisTV. Live scores will be available during match time at the ATP's official website.
Video courtesy: YouTube/TENNIS