World number two Novak Djokovic has reached the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-final. Djokovic prevailed over tricky Spaniard Pablo Carreno-Busta on Thursday to secure a spot in Friday's Monte Carlo schedule. Djokovic of Serbia ended on the winning side against Carreno-Busta in a tight encounter 6-2 4-6 6-4. The Serbian now has a 2-0 head-to-head record over the Spanish tennis player.
Throughout the match, Djokovic converted 6-of-14 of his break chances and saved 8-of-12 of Carreno-Busta's break point attempts. Djokovic struggled on his second serve, winning just 14-of-38 points behind the same.
It took just under two and a half hours for the match to come to an end.
David Goffin prolongs his campaign
Belgian tennis player Goffin is also through to the Monte Carlo Masters last-eight stage. Goffin handed a loss to Dominic Thiem of Austria in the round-of-16 stage. Belgium's Goffin needed three sets to make it past Thiem on Thursday 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-3. It was their second match of the season. The two previously met at the Australian Open, where Goffin took the win. The Belgian now has a 6-3 overall head-to-head edge over the world number nine from Austria.
Goffin hoping to finally beat Djokovic
Two-time Monte Carlo Masters champion Djokovic will be taking on rising Goffin in the quarter-final.
The two are not strangers to each other, having met five times so far on the ATP level. Djokovic has been extremely successfull against Goffin, winning five out of five of their encounters. It remains to be seen if the Belgian can pull off an upset and defeat the 12-time Grand Slam champion to reach the Monte Carlo semis.
Marin Cilic starting to heat up
2014 US Open champion Cilic will also be featured in the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals. Cilic of Croatia earned a good win on Thursday against former top-10 player Tomas Berdych. The Croatian outgunned Berdych from the Czech Republic in a straight sets battle 6-2 7-6 (7-0). The two now stand at 6-6 when it comes to their head-to-head record.
Cilic is starting to perform better. After two consecutive second-round exits at Indian Wells and Miami, Cilic is on track to potentially achieve a great result this week. He will have a good chance to reach the semi-final as his next opponent will be Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who stunned Andy Murray on Thursday. Cilic has captured three wins and one loss against Ramos-Vinolas so far in his career.
