Djokovic beats China's No 1 Zhang to enter China Open quarters

Novak Djokovic emphatically ended home hopes at the China Open yesterday as he beat Zhang Ze to reach the quarter-finals with his 26th straight win at the tournament

Beijing: Novak Djokovic emphatically ended home hopes at the China Open yesterday as he beat Zhang Ze to reach the quarter-finals with his 26th straight win at the tournament.

Novak Djokovic

The World No 1, unbeaten in five appearances in Beijing won 6-2, 6-1 in just 55 minutes on a bright, chilly day. Wildcard Zhang, China’s No 1 but ranked 219th in the world, could not contend with the power and precision of Djokovic’s ground strokes as he was broken immediately and soon yielded the first set.

With 26 wins and no defeats, Djokovic joins Jimmy Connors in second place on the list of unbeaten starts to a tournament, behind only Rafael Nadal’s 31 at the French Open.

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