Top seed Novak Djokovic edged past the Frenchman Quentin Halys on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International.
The 35-year-old Serb won 7-6, 7-6 and will play Denis Shapovalov who beat the qualifier Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-3.
“It was a great performance from my opponent,” Djokovic said. “I want to congratulate him for great quality tennis and a great fight. Tough luck, but he played like a top-10 player.”
Halys served for the second set at 5-3 but could not exploit his advantage.
“Two tiebreaks were probably the most realistic score of today’s match and I’m just glad to overcome the tough challenge," Djokovic added.
Series
Djokovic is unbeaten in seven matches against Shapovalov.
However, the Canadian may have added confidence in their next encounter after Canada defeated Australia in the Davis Cup final in November.
“Last year we started with winning the ATP Cup and finished it off with winning the Davis Cup, so definitely the team events were a good success for me last year,” Shapovalov said.
“I’m definitely trying to implement what I learned in those victories on the individual side as well and so far it’s been a great start.”
Djokovic and other top players are using this event as a warm-up for the Australian Open beginning 16 January.
In the women's draw, the former world number one Victoria Azarenka defeated Zheng Qinwen 6-2, 7-5 to reach the last eight.
The 33-year-old will next face Linda Noskova, who defeated Claire Liu from the United States 6-2, 6-2.
Djokovic and other top players are using the Adelaide event as a warm-up for the Australian Open which begins in Melbourne on 16 January. Djokovic missed the Australian Open last year because he had not been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
He has been allowed to enter this year as Covid-19 restrictions have been relaxed.
