ASTANA: World number seven Novak Djokovic cruised into the quarter-finals of the ATP tournament in Astana on Thursday with a crushing 6-3, 6-1 win over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
The 71-minute demolition of the world number 34 follows his 64-minute 6-1, 6-1 thrashing of Cristian Garin on Wednesday.
Djokovic, who collected his 89th career title in Tel Aviv last weekend, extended his winning streak to six matches with a ruthless display.
The 35-year-old Serb, however, had a small scare in the opening set, complaining of pain in a nail which required the intervention of the physiotherapist.
The early exchanges were well contested with van de Zandschulp threatening to give Djokovic a serious workout.
But the former world number one kept his composure and built his game on the accuracy of his service, achieving an 84 percent first-serve success in the first set and offering up just two break point chances in the match, both of which he saved.
Djokovic has now reached the last eight in eight of the nine tournaments he has played in 2022.
He faces the world number 18 Karen Khachanov in Friday’s quarter-finals as he looks for his 90th title and presses for a place in the season-ending ATP Finals.
Khachanov, who reached the semi-finals of the US Open, earlier prevailed 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 against ninth seed Marin Cilic.
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