Novak Djokovic spoke about the crowd in Tel-Aviv ahead of his last eight showdown with Vasek Pospisil.
The Wimbledon champion progressed to the quarter-finals in Tel-Aviv with a dominant display over Pablo Andujar.
Djokovic dropped only three games as he returned to imperious form as he looks to boost his ranking over the coming weeks.
Speaking after the match Djokovic spoke about the ‘passionate’ crowd in Tel-Aviv and how it boosted his performance, “Fantastic atmosphere here tonight, thank you very much,” Djokovic said in his on-court atmosphere.
“I like the court, it’s very intimate and it’s very loud. The crowd here is very passionate about the sport, about tennis and I’m really, really happy to be here and to perform here in front of you, so thank you for your support.”
Djokovic’s last appearance in Tel-Aviv came as a teenager in 2006 when he played a Davis Cup tie.
Now 16 years later, Djokovic is relishing the occasion playing in Israel again as he looks to make up significant ground on the world’s top ranked players.
Djokovic will now play good friend Vasek Pospisil in the last eight with the Serb leading the head-to-head 5-0.
Here are the other quarter-finals that will take place on Friday in Tel-Aviv:
Arthur Rinderknech v Roman Safiullin
Constant Lestienne v Maxime Cressy
Liam Broady v Marin Cilic
