World No. 1 Novak Djokovic remained on course for a fourth Shanghai Rolex Masters crown on Thursday as he defeated Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.
The Serbian is back in action for the first time since losing the US Open final to Stan Wawrinka and is chasing his eighth tour-level crown of the season. He has a 26-3 record at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament and is bidding to add to the trophies he won in 2012-13 and 2015.
Each victory this week sees Djokovic keep pace with Andy Murray in the battle to finish the year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The Belgrade native started the week with a healthy 1,555-point lead over Murray in the year-to-date standings, but with more than 4,000 points still to play for this season, the race is far from run.
[ALSO LIKE]
The 29-year-old Djokovic improved to a 4-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head lead over Pospisil as he claimed victory in 80 minutes. After Djokovic ran out to a 4-0 lead, Pospisil mounted a spirited comeback, with his attacking style at the net keeping him competitive as Djokovic dominated the baseline exchanges. After securing the first set, though, Djokovic broke decisively in the eighth game of the second set to claim victory.
"I thought it was a great quality of tennis today from both players," said Djokovic. "I was very pleased with the way I played from the first to last point. I don't think I dropped my level at all.
"And on the other side, Vasek was serving very well. It was really hard to read his serve. He was hitting the spots beautifully. He was putting a lot of power in that. Just when I needed to read his serve and play well, I did. It was enough: one break in both sets."
The 26-year-old Pospisil enjoyed his best week of the season in Shanghai, having qualified into the main draw before winning back-to-back tour-level matches for the first time in 2016.
Djokovic goes on to face Mischa Zverev, who became the first qualifier to reach the quarter-finals of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament this season after battling past Marcel Granollers 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-1 in two hours and eight minutes.
The 29-year-old German was not joined in the last eight by his younger brother, Alexander Zverev, who was beaten by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Former Top 50 player, Zverev, is on the verge of a return to the Top 100 after strong showings in Asia, where he also reached the quarter-finals in Shenzhen two weeks ago (l. to Gasquet). He will face Djokovic for the first time since 2009, when the Serbian prevailed in straight sets in Marseille.