Novak Djokovic cruises into quarter-finals of Cincinnati Open

World number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic continued his rich vein of form as he brushed aside Spanish tennis player Pablo Carreno Busta in straight sets to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open on Friday. 

Serbian maestro Djokovic didn't have to break a sweat much while securing a 6-3, 6-4 win over Busta in a round-of-16 clash of the men's singles event of the Western & Southern Open that lasted one and a half hour. 

Following the win, Djokovic said that the clash was contrary to what score indicates, adding that Busta surprised him with his aggressiveness from the back of the court.

"I don't think the score indicates how tough it was on the court. We battled it out. I think I was serving really well. That was probably the best shot in the game tonight for me, over 70 per cent of first serves in. Got me out of trouble in the second set when I was facing break points," Association for Tennis Professionals (ATP) quoted the top-seed player as saying.

"I thought he was very solid. Played against him a couple of times and have seen him play, and I knew what quality he possesses, but he did surprise me with his aggressiveness from the back of the court. As soon as he got a little bit of a softer ball from my side, he went for it from both forehand and backhand flat coming in," he added.

By clinching his eighth straight victory in Cincinnati, Djokovic has improved his Head-to-Head record to 3-0 against former No. 10 Busta. 

Djokovic will now lock horns with Frenchman Lucas Pouille for a place in the semi-final of Cincinnati Open. Pouille advanced to the last-eight after sweeping past Russia's Karen Khachanov 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2 in another round-of-16.