Djokovic wins 700th career match to reach Dubai quarters
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Novak Djokovic earned his 700th career match win at the expense of Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri 6-1, 6-2 at the Dubai Championships on Wednesday.
Djokovic, who joined the tour a decade ago, has a 700-146 career match record.
He's one of three active players to reach 700 wins, the others being Roger Federer with 1,067, and Rafael Nadal on 775.
''Sounds like I played many matches in my career,'' a smiling Djokovic told the crowd.
Djokovic has won the Dubai title four times, but lost to Federer in the last two years.
The third-seeded Tomas Berdych advanced to his fourth quarterfinal of the season by beating Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano 6-2, 6-2.
Berdych, a two-time Dubai finalist, holds a 22-4 win-loss record at the tournament. He's reached at least the semifinals in four of the last five years.
The fourth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain pummeled Hyeon Chung of South Korea 6-0, 6-1 to reach his fifth quarterfinal of the year.
The 18th-ranked Bautista Agut has won two of his four career titles this year at Auckland, New Zealand, and Sofia, Bulgaria.
The sixth-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain and eighth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany also advanced to the quarterfinals.
