Nole cruises to Montreal last 8, faces Gulbis next

MONTREAL, ON - AUGUST 11:   Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball during day two of the Rogers Cup against  Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil at Uniprix Stadium on August 11, 2015 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  Novak Djokovic defeated Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 7-6.  (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Top seed and three-time former champion Novak Djokovic made light work of world no.35 Jack Sock on Thursday, beating the American 6-2, 6-1 in just 54 minutes to reach the Rogers Cup quarter-finals.

Novak broke twice in each set, recording his 50th match win in 2015. The Serb won 79% of points on his first service and was 100% successful when approaching the net (7/7).

“I never played him before so it took me some time to really figure out what his patterns were of the serves, his game in general,” Djokovic said. “I did watch him many times before, but it’s different when you’re standing on the court trying to read the rotation, especially of his forehand because he’s got a very quick wrist, very quick motion, good forehand. I think turning point was the 3‑2 game when I made a break. After that I just felt in control of the match.”

Match statistics: aces (3-1), double faults (0-1), winners (19-6), unforced errors (10-22), total points won (55-32).

Novak will play Ernests Gulbis (5-1 H2H) for a place in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event semi-finals. The Latvian defeated American Donald Young in straight sets.

Photo: Getty Images

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