By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday October 2, 2019
World No.1 Novak Djokovic got past tricky Go Soeda to book his spot in the quarterfinals at Tokyo.
Photo Source: AP
Novak Djokovic pushed past Japan’s Go Soeda and into the quarterfinals at the Rakuten Open in Tokyo on his tournament debut.
The World No.1 notched a 6-3 7-5 victory to improve to 43-8 on the season.
Djokovic struck early to notch the critical break after he saved three break points in his first service game. He converted his fifth break point against Soeda to lead 2-1 in the opening set and he would notch an insurance break and finish the set without surrendering a break.
The second set was much more complicated.
After Djokovic broke for 5-3 he was immediately broken back by Soeda. The 35-year-old, who snapped a 12-match losing streak at Tokyo when he defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round, then saved three match points to hold for 5-5.
Credit to Soeda who played extremely brave tennis and attacked the net to great effect against Djokovic. Soeda won 16 of 22 points at net on the evening.
The former World No.47 could not hold off Djokovic at the conclusion of the second set, however.
The Serb won the final eight points of the match, clinching the match by playing a wicked inside-out forehand that forced a Soeda error.
Djokovic finished with 25 winners and 18 unforced errors in the 94-minute contest. He will face either Lucas Pouille or Yoshihito Nishioka in the quarterfinals.
Earlier on Wednesday David Goffin saved three match points to knock off Pablo Carreno Busta, 1-6 7-6(8) 6-0 in the pair’s third meeting since the US Open.
The Belgian, a 2017 champion in Tokyo, ralled from 5-1 down in the second-set breaker and then steamrolled Carreno Busta in the third set to reach the quarterfinals. Goffin will face Denis Shapovalov for a spot in the semis.