Unseeded Mikhail Kukushkin has seen his impressive run at the Shanghai Masters come to an end at the third-round stage having suffered defeat against top seed Novak Djokovic.
The world number 85 gave Djokovic a minor scare this afternoon, however, levelling up the contest at 1-1 before being edged out in the deciding set.
The opener proved a tight affair with both players holding serve until the eighth game, when the Serbian broke his opponent to eventually prevail 6-3.
Djokovic failed to take control of the second set, though, and having lost serve on two occasions Kukushkin capitalised to level up courtesy of a 6-4 triumph.
Kukushin had already overcome Kevin Anderson to reach this stage of the tournament, but there was to be no further surprises as Djokovic held his serve to record a 6-4 victory in the third and final set.
The reigning champion will now face David Ferrer in the quarter-finals following the Spaniard's comeback win over Andy Murray earlier today.
Daniel Lewis
