Djokovic beats Goffin to reach Cincinnati quarters

Cincinnati, Aug 21: Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic found himself against the ropes against Belgium's David Goffin but rallied in time to pull off a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory to reach the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters here.

The 13th-seeded Goffin on Thursday afternoon won nine of 11 games to win the second set and take a 3-0 lead with two service breaks in the decider. But top seed Djokovic was able to get his game back on track just in time and take advantage of the 24-year-old Belgian's inexperience to reel off the final six games of the one-hour, 46-minute contest, Efe reported.

The 28-year-old world No.1, a four-time finalist here, the only ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event that has eluded him thus far in his career, will next take on fifth-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in one of Friday's quarter-final matches.

Wawrinka squeaked past Croatia's Ivo Karlovic 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(5) on Thursday in a match that was devoid of service breaks.

Sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, who routed Spain's Tommy Robredo 6-0, 6-1, and Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 winner over Poland's Jerzy Janowicz, will also square off on Friday.

In women's action Thursday, top-seeded American Serena Williams cruised into the quarter-finals with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Italian Karin Knapp.