Novak Djokovic fended off David Goffin on Thursday in Cincinnati to set a quarter-final clash with Stan Wawrinka. The top seed will face the Swiss for the 22nd time, the first time since their Roland Garros final in June.
Djokovic beat the 13th-seeded Belgian 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 as he continued his bid to become the first player to win all nine different ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in his career. The World No. 1 hit 18 winners in the one-hour, 46-minute match.
“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."
Earlier, fifth seed Wawrinka battled past Ivo Karlovic, winning 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(5) and improving his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Croat to 5-1. Wawrinka survived 35 aces from his big-serving opponent as he saved all three break points he faced in the two-hour, 37-minute match. Karlovic fell to 0-6 in deciding tie-breaks this year. Wawrinka has also reached the doubles quarter-finals at the Western & Southern Open with partner Leander Paes, who was watching the Swiss as he defeated Karlovic.
“It's going to be the first time we've met [since] the French Open final,” Djokovic 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.”
Alexandr Dolgopolov staved off a late challenge from Jerzy Janowicz to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. The Ukrainian, ranked 66th in the Emirates ATP Rankings, needed just under two hours to close out his Polish opponent, who was ranked 14 spots higher.
Dolgopolov claimed the first set without facing a break point, but got off to a slow start in the second set and saw Janowicz go 4-0 up before leveling the match in the 67th minute. In the deciding set, the Ukrainian was broken when serving for the match at 5-3, and finally clinched the win on his third match point, on the Janowicz serve.
In the next round, Dolgopolov will face Tomas Berdych, who needed just 51 minutes to dismiss Tommy Robredo 6-0, 6-1. The Czech won the first nine games of the match and only faced one break point.
Berdych holds a 4-0 lead over Dolgopolov in the pair's FedEx ATP Head2Head matchup. They have not met since the quarter-finals of Miami in 2014, when Berdych won 6-4, 7-6(3).
Did You Know?
Despite the loss, Karlovic is projected to return to the Top 20 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday for the first time since 20 October, 2008. At 36 years and 5 months, Karlovic will be the oldest player in the Top 20 since 37-year-old Jimmy Connors the week of 19 February, 1990.
