CINCINNATI: Novak Djokovic extended his career-long domination of Gael Monfils with a 6-3, 6-2 victory on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP/WTA Cincinnati Open.
The Serb second seed, a two-time winner in Cincinnati, won his 19th match against the French showman without a defeat.
He needed just 69 minutes to follow top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz into the last eight, the Spaniard withstanding a string of frustrating rain delays to beat Tommy Paul 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (7/0) 6-3 and avenge a loss to the American last week.
Djokovic applied the pressure early against Monfils in the battle of 36-year-old veterans, denying the number 211 his first last-eight place here since 2011.
Djokovic will next take on American Taylor Fritz, who advanced after Dusan Lajovic retired with a toe injury trailing 5-0.
Things weren’t quite so easy for Alcaraz against a player who had stunned him in the quarter-finals at Toronto last week.
Alcaraz had squandered three match points against Paul before the first of a string of rain delays that forced players off and on the court in a logistics ballet that finally ended after more than three hours.
The Spaniard held on to book a quarter-final meeting with Australian Max Purcell, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Swiss Stan Wawrinka.
