Novak Djokovic moved towards Rafael Nadal’s all-time record for unbeaten starts to a tournament as he demolished Chinese Zhang Ze in less than an hour in the ATP & WTA China Open here on Thursday.
The world No. 1 showed no mercy to Zhang, ranked 219, in front of his home fans as he ended local hopes 6-2, 6-1 in 55 minutes to reach his sixth China Open quarterfinal. Djokovic, unbeaten in five appearances, now equals Jimmy Connors with 26 wins at a tournament before suffering a single defeat, in sight of Nadal’s record of 31 at the French Open.
Sania-Hingis advance Eyeing their eighth title of the season, Sania Mirza and Swiss partner Martina Hingis prevailed over the German-Czech pair of Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova 7-6(5) 6-4 to enter the semifinals of the women’s doubles.
The results: At Beijing: ATP & WTA China Open: Men: Second round: Fabio Fognini bt David Goffin 6-2, 2-6, 6-2; Pablo Cuevas bt Ivo Karlovic 7-6(5), 7-6(7); Novak Djokovic bt Zhang Ze 6-2, 6-1; John Isner bt John Millman 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4. Doubles: First round: Pablo Cuevas & Viktor Troicki bt Rohan Bopanna & John Isner 6-4, 6-3.
Women: Third round: Bethanie Mattek-Sands bt Roberta Vinci 6-1, 3-6, 6-2; Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bt Flavia Pennetta 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; Garbine Muguruza bt Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 1-6, 6-2, 6-1; Ana Ivanovic bt Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. Doubles: Quarterfinals: Sania Mirza & Martina Hingis bt Julia Goerges & Karolina Pliskova 7-6(5), 6-4.
At Tokyo: ATP Japan Open: Second round: Marin Cilic bt Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-3; Nick Kyrgios bt Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-2; Austin Krajicek bt Joao Sousa 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; Benoit Paire bt Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. —
