BRISBANE, Australia, January 2, 2025 – Novak Djokovic kept his hopes of winning a 100th career ATP title alive with a straightforward 6-3 6-3 win against Gael Monfils in the Brisbane International last 16.
The Serb, 37, will face Reilly Opelka in the last eight after the American’s 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (7-4) victory against Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi.
Djokovic took his only break point opportunity in the first set, helping him to race into a 4-1 lead and to take the set within 36 minutes.
Monfils, 38, missed a simple forehand on serve at 1-1 and the Frenchman failed to take a point in the remainder of the game as Djokovic broke early in the second set.
Djokovic held serve three times from there and broke Monfils again at 5-3 to wrap up his 20th career win against the Frenchman.
Opelka awaits Djokovic in the quarter-finals, when the pair will play each other for the first time.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner says he will have to tailor his game to face the big-serving American, who hit 25 aces against Arnaldi.
“Opelka has been injured and he struggled a lot for a couple of years,” said Djokovic.
“My gosh, I’m going to have to probably step back a few steps for that first serve.”
Sabalenka through to face Bouzkova
World number one Aryna Sabalenka will face Marie Bouzkova in the quarter-finals after breezing past Yulia Putintseva.
The Belarusian beat Putintseva 6-4 7-6 (7-2) as she aims to win her 18th career title in Australia.
The 26-year-old will face world number 44 Bouzkova, who beat former world number one Victoria Azarenka, 6-4 6-4 earlier in the day.
Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina beat China’s Yue Yuan 6-1 6-4 to set-up a last-eight match against Australia’s Kimberly Birrell, while world number 64 Ashlyn Krueger will take on Russia’s Polina Kudermetova.
Former world number two Ons Jabeur will play Russia’s Mirra Andreeva in the final quarter-final fixture.
