Nole continues to march towards highly anticipated QF with Roger Federer.
The two-time US Open champion Novak Djokovic showed a masterclass performance to advance to the fourth round for the 11th time in New York, following a 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Richard Gasquet on Saturday night.
Continuing his quest for a third crown, Novak was a class above on Arthur Ashe Stadium. In his best display thus far, the Serbian ace broke five times from 12 chances and saved all five break points he faced in the two-hour, 11-minute match.
Djokovic now leads the Frenchman 13-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.
“It was a great match from the beginning to the end,” Novak said during his on-court interview. “I played really, really well, especially from the backhand corner. I was managing to step in and dictate the play from that area of the court.”
Match statistics: aces (3-10), double faults (2-4), winners (31-25), unforced errors (25-47), total points won (104-75).
Novak will play against world no.68 Joao Sousa (H2H 4-0) for a place in the last 8.
The 29-year-old Portuguese upset no.17 seed Lucas Pouille (7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6).
Looking ahead to his Monday’s fourth-round encounter with Sousa, the sixth seed said: “He had a great win today against Pouille and a couple days ago against Carreño Busta. He’s a fighter, he’s a grinder. He will not hand you the victory, you have to earn it. I’m glad I didn’t spend too much time on court tonight. Going to get some rest and get ready for the next one.”
