World no.1 Novak Djokovic overcame a test from no.13 seed David Goffin of Belgium, securing a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory in the Western & Southern Open third round on Thursday.
The Serbian top seed made a good start to the match, but then allowed his 24-year-old opponent to dominate. Goffin was up a double break in the deciding set, but Novak got back on track and won six games in a row for 6-3. The match lasted one hour and 46 minutes.
“Credit to him for playing some solid, consistent tennis, always making me play an extra shot,” Djokovic said of Goffin. “Luckily for me, I managed to bounce back, dig myself out of this hole I was in… I will try to take the positives out of this match.”
Stats: aces (3-2), double faults (7-3), winners (18-24), unforced errors (27-35), total points won (77-76).
Novak will face fifth-seeded Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the last 8 on Friday.
The two have clashed 21 times, with the Serb leading 17-4 in their ATP H2H series.
“It’s going to be the first time we’ve met since the French Open final,” Nole said of his next match against Wawrinka. “Both of us, we are still not playing our best, but hopefully we can rise to the occasion and have a good match.”
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