Djokovic records 13th consecutive ATP win as he cruises to quarterfinals in Astana
ATP
Novak Djokovic will play in the quarter-finals at the 2022 Astana Open after he dominantly defeated Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round.
After destroying Cristian Garin 6-1, 6-1 in the first round, the Serbian stated that he "played as well as he can," and it seems that he did the same thing also in the second round.
Despite being "only" the fourth seed at the star-studded Astana Open, Djokovic is probably the biggest favorite to win the event, and he confirmed it once again.
Van de Zandschulp had a good start when he managed to hold in his first two service games while also causing some damage when the 21-time Grand Slam champion was serving.
However, the damage wasn't big enough to force a break point, so in the sixth game, Djokovic used his chance to break his opponent and got a decisive lead.
In the next game, it was the Serbian who faced a break point, but he didn't fold under pressure and won the first set 6-3 in just 39 minutes. He hit 84% of his first serves and won 77% after doing so, which was crucial for Djokovic in the opening set of the match.
Despite a very fast first set, the second set was even faster. This time, Djokovic allowed his opponent to win only one game as he broke his serve three times and won six games in a row after losing the first one.
Eventually, the ATP World No. 7 player won the match 6-3, 6-1 in an hour and 11 minutes to set up a quarter-final meeting with Karen Khachanov and record his 13th consecutive ATP win after winning titles in Wimbledon and Tel Aviv.
It was another performance that reminded fans that while his ranking might not reflect it, Djokovic is the player to beat at the moment.
