Novak Djokovic in action at the 2016 Madrid Masters (source: zimbio.com)
Novak Djokovic strolled into his sixth Madrid Open quarterfinal with a dominant 6-2, 6-1, win over Roberto Bautista Agut.
The world No.1 has played the Spanish player on three previous occasions, dropping only one set. Unlike the closeness of their previous encounter at the 2015 US Open, Djokovic was on the top of his game throughout the match as the 15th seed struggled to keep up.
Firing 15 winners past Bautista Agut, Djokovic grabbed back-to-back breaks of serve to seal the first set. Spurred on by his home crowd, Bautista Agut kept valiantly battling by fending off three out of the five break points he faced. The colder conditions had little effect on the Serbian’s game as he maintained a high level of serving through the first set, winning 70% of his service points. The sublime play from the world No.1 awarded him the first set after 41 minutes of play.
The power of Djokovic triggered an increase in unforced errors from his opponent during the vital moments of the second set. A wild forehand from Bautista Agut rewarded Djokovic a third break of the match to lead 2-1. Proceedings on the court worsen for the Spaniard when a backhand into the net expanded Djokovic’s lead to 4-1. The Djokovic dominance was finally completed with a heavy backhand return down the line.
In his best performance on clay so far this year, the world No.1 won 86% of his first service points, hit 25 winners and produced only 11 unforced errors.
“I didn’t give him too much time. I used a variation of the shots, opening up the court with flat, down the line shots, and slices,” Djokovic said about the tactics he used against Bautista Agut.
“I was always trying to mix up the pace, which I think he didn’t like. I am very pleased with the performance.”
The win followed his straight sets win over Borna Coric on Wednesday. Comparing today’s win to his previous, Djokovic is surging in confidence.
“The first match of the tournament was very solid, although I thought there were some things that I could have done better,” he honestly admitted.
“Today the way I played gives me a lot of satisfaction and conversation. I’m just hoping I can continue playing this well tomorrow.”
Awaiting him in the net round will be either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Milos Raonic. The World No.1 has a winning head-to-head against both players (15-6 against Tsonga and 6-0 against Raonic).
“Both of those guys are serving very big. Raonic probably has a slightly better serve, but Tsonga is a player that moves better on clay and plays generally better than Raonic on this surface,” Djokovic said about his potential upcoming opponents.
“On the other hand, in the last couple of years Raonic has produced some good results in the altitude in Madrid.”
Today’s win is Djokovic’s 15th victory at the Madrid Open in his career.
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