Djokovic, Pouille through to Japan Open quarter-finals
Djokovic next plays fifth-seeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille who breezed past the other home favourite Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1 6-2, breaking the 24-year-old four times in a 49-minute encounter.
World number one Novak Djokovic beat Japanese wildcard Go Soeda 6-3 7-5 to move into the quarter-finals of the Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Djokovic, who returned to the tour after nursing a shoulder injury that led to his U.S. Open fourth round withdrawal, was on point with his serve, firing 10 aces and winning a remarkable 81% of his first service points.
Soeda is ranked 133rd in the world and did manage to break Djokovic once in the second set when the top-seeded Serb served for the match at 5-3 before displaying his resilience once again by saving three match points in the following game.
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But despite the home crowd's support, he was no match for Djokovic who broke the 35-year-old veteran for the fourth time in the one hour, 34 minute contest before serving out the match.
Djokovic next plays fifth-seeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille who breezed past the other home favourite Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1 6-2, breaking the 24-year-old four times in a 49-minute encounter.
Japan had a reason to cheer, however, after Yasutaka Uchiyama beat Moldova's Radu Albot who is ranked 91 places above the Japanese in the ATP rankings.
The 27-year-old Uchiyama battled back from a set down to win 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4 in two hours and 25 minutes to move into the quarters where he will face American Reilly Opelka.
Opelka held his nerve in two tiebreaks to beat Frenchman Gilles Simon 7-6(4) 7-6(2).
