World no.1 Novak Djokovic contiued his dominant run against Gael Monfils as he downed the Frenchman for the 19th time in his career.
The Serbian tennis ace recorded a 6-3, 6-2 win in just 67 minutes on Thursday to advance at the Western & Southern Open.
The first set saw no breaks untl the eighth game, when Djokovic applied more pressure, and Monfils succumbed.
Djokovic was spectacular on his own serve, hardly losing any points. The two-time former champion broke three times in the second set, before suffering the only break in the match. He served out the victory two games later to storm into the last eight of the ATP 1000 Masters event.
“When you play one of the most athletic guys on the Tour, you have to be ready, every ball comes back. A couple of points today, especially in the first set he showed his athleticism. I managed to hold my serve really comfortably. I was hitting the spots well, and just made him play,” said Novak. “He made a few unforced errors at 4-3 in the first set to hand me the break. After that it was no looking back for me. I started to raise the level more and more, played almost a flawless second set. I guess his game suits me. It’s great to see him back playing at a high level.”
Match statistics: aces (1-6), double faults (3-5), winners (7-15), unforced errors (14-38), total points won (62-39).
Next up for Nole will be home favourite Taylor Fritz, who reached the quarter-finals when Laslo Djere retired while trailing 0-5.
Djokovic holds a perfect 6-0 H2H record against the American.
Photo: Profimedia
