China Open finalists Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych cruised to the third round, while Milos Raonic retired in his opening match at the Shanghai Rolex Masters in China on Wednesday.

The World No. 1 Djokovic defeated 21-year-old Dominic Thiem of Poland in straight sets 6-3 6-4 which lasted an hour and 28 minutes.

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The defending champion is set to face Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan who won over 16^th seeded South African Kevin Anderson also in straight sets 6-4 6-2.

The top seed is aiming for his third consecutive title of the tournament, the same feat Djokovic has achieved in last week's China Open.

The 27-year-old Serb is also seeking a three-peat performance at the year-ending WTA World Tour Finals and a third consecutive year of being ranked No. 1 in the world.

Berdych, a former champion in 2011, had an easy matchup against Frenchman Richard Gaquet 6-3 6-1.

The Czech native will face Croatian Ivo Karlovic in the next round who upset U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic in the first round in three sets 7-5 2-6 7(7)-6(2).

Berdych, 29, is currently seventh in the eight-man short list at the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals in November but just barely hanging onto that place as Canadian Milos Raonic is only 25 points behind him.

Britain's No. 1 Andy Murray is in 9^th place, a mere 165 points away from Berdych. If he hopes to compete at the prestigious event for the fifth consecutive year, he must make at least the quarterfinals in Shanghai and the last Masters 1000 event of the year, the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris slated to start late this month.

Eighth seeded Raonic missed another opportunity to score some valuable points in the race to London as he was forced to retire his match against Argentinean wild card Juan Monaco while down 5-2.

Monaco will now face Mikhail Youzhny in the third round that defeated 12^th seeded Ernests Gulbis in straight sets in the first round.

TagsNovak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic, andy murray