Novak Djokovic extended his season-opening winning streak to 29 matches Thursday at the Madrid Open, equaling the best start in men's tennis in 25 years.
The Australian Open champion won all 21 of his first service points to defeat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-2 and advance to the quarterfinals. He was joined by fellow third-round winner Roger Federer and top-ranked Rafael Nadal, who advanced after opponent Juan Martin del Potro withdrew with a hip injury.
Djokovic, who is 31-0 since last year's Davis Cup final, is tied for third with Ivan Lendl for the best season start since 1980. John McEnroe won 42 straight to start the 1984 season, and Bjorn Borg won 33 in a row at the beginning of the 1980 season.
''I know I'm playing great now but there is always something you can improve on - you can never be perfect,'' the Serbian player said. ''I'm winning service games comfortably. That's something I'm happy about today and an encouraging fact for upcoming matches, especially on clay.''
Djokovic will surpass Lendl's mark if he wins the quarterfinal Friday against David Ferrer, who was a 6-3, 7-6 (3) winner over Sergiy Stakhovsky. Nadal will play Michael Llodra, who defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Federer recovered from Wednesday's struggle against Feliciano Lopez to get past Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-4, 6-3. Fourth-ranked Andy Murray was bounced from the clay court tournament 6-4, 6-2 by hard-hitting Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci.
