Djokovic to face Khachanov test after going 15-0 with latest Dubai win

Karen Khachanov will be the next man to try and stop Novak Djokovic, who now holds a 15-0 record in 2020 after winning again in Dubai.

Novak Djokovic in his win over Philipp Kohlschreiber

Novak Djokovic talked up the quality of the "powerful" Karen Khachanov after he and the Russian booked a quarterfinal meeting at the Dubai Tennis Championship. 

After dominating his first-round encounter against Malek Jaziri in one hour, Djokovic won a similarly straightforward contest with Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-1 in just 59 minutes on Wednesday.

In the build-up, Djokovic had pointed to his loss against Kohlschreiber at Indian Wells last year on the previous occasion they had met on a hard court as evidence he was facing a big test.

But the Serbian triumphed without facing a break point, hitting 23 winners and just 10 unforced errors in improving his 2020 record to 15-0.

Khachanov, who has won one of his three meetings with Djokovic, moved through after seeing off Dennis Novak 6-3, 6-4.

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"I've had some interesting battles with him," Djokovic said of Khachanov. "He is a great guy, a very powerful player. 

"He is one of the guys who is a pretender to be top five, top 10. He is very dedicated, so hopefully I'll be as sharp as I have been in the past two matches and start well."

Djokovic felt he had barely put a foot wrong against Kohlschreiber, who at 36-years-old is now ranked at number 80.

"It was a great performance," said the Australian Open champion. "I enjoyed the way I played, coming out with the right focus and tactics. 

"Knowing Philipp beat me 12 months ago in Indian Wells, I needed to approach this match very seriously regardless of his ranking."

Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas joined Djokovic in the quarterfinals at the ATP 500 event, beating Alexander Bublik – a player he also got the better of en route to Open 13 Marseille glory last week - 7-6 (7-1), 6-4.

Tsitsipas will now play Jan-Lennard Struff, who defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili.

Andrey Rublev saw off Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 to book a clash with Dan Evans, who was on the brink of elimination but saved three match points in a thriller against Pierre-Hugues Herbert, eventually winning 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7).

Richard Gasquet eliminated fellow Frenchman and eighth seed Benoit Paire 6-4, 6-4, while in-form Gael Monfils was a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 winner over Yasutaka Uchiyama.