Second seed Novak Djokovic was in ruthless form as he swatted aside Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2 to advance into the Cincinnati Masters quarterfinals.
After dedicating half of his pre-match presser heaping praise on Monfils and hyping up the 'duel of the veterans', Djokovic served up a near clinic under the lights, made evident by the timeclock, as this win was Djokovic's quickest over Gael Monfils in their head-to-head, taking an hour and nine minutes.
He grabbed the last remaining quarterfinal spot and sets up a meeting against USA's top-ranked ATP player Taylor Fritz in Friday's night session. Djokovic has now beaten Monfils 19 times without reply, breaking a tie with rival Rafael Nadal who owns an 18-0 record over Richard Gasquet in the most lopsided head-to-head records in the Open Era.
Djokovic's perfect 19-0 record over Monfils is now officially the best-undefeated streak in ATP history. Nevertheless, the World No. 2 doesn't expect easy bouts against Monfils given his outstanding ability to play athletic points and described how difficult this matchup was in the early phase of his career.
"It was kind of an evolution of both players over the past 15-plus years that we've been playing each other in different parts of the world, also in juniors."
"I think early on I struggled a lot with him, I think physically as well. When you play one of the most athletic guys on the Tour, you have to be ready, every ball comes back. A couple of points today, especially in the first set he showed his athleticism."
Djokovic was able to wear down the Frenchman over the course of the match with the Serbian's fitness levels trumping Monfils in the longer exchanges, whilst he was able to maintain a healthy number behind his first serve.
"I just managed to hold my serve really comfortably. I think I was hitting the spots well, and just made him play. "
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