As many predicted, the second round encounter with Juan Martin del Potro was a crowd pleaser, with the Argentine opening in style. His ability to pressure the world number two, as he had done in their previous meeting at the Rio Olympics, showed on the scoreboard, with two breaks of an inconsistent Serb serve in the opening set.
Djokovic returned well in the second set, and was able to use his array of winning ground strokes to full effect, nullifying the punishing del Potro forehand to a fair degree. At a set all, the momentum was with Djokovic, and even when it switched back to del Potro in the decider, 4-3 with a break, the top seed didn't panic, instead lifting the level of tennis in order to sweep the final three games, breaking the Argentine serve twice in the process.
Djokovic earned a quarter final with Nick Kyrgios, the first match between the two, and a great chance for the Australian to learn some more, this time from the very best.
Kyrgios had a much easier path to the final eight, dismissing Donald Young in two quick sets.
The winner will play the survivor of a quarter final between fourth seed Dominic Thiem and unseeded Sam Querrey, the latter having upset David Goffin in a second round crushing.
The other semi final will feature third seed Marin Cilic, who received a walkover from Steve Johnson, and his opponent is likely to be Rafa Nadal, the second seed taking the opening set against Yoshihito Nishioka, the conqueror of Jack Sock.
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