By Chris Oddo | Thursday October 8, 2015

 

Novak Djokovic cruised to yet another one-sided victory at the China Open on Thursday.

Photo Source: Chris Hyde/Getty

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic continued his Beijing domination with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over top-ranked Chinese Ze Zhang on Thursday.

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With the victory the Serb now shares the second-longest winning streak to start at a single event in ATP history. He’s won 26 consecutively at the China Open, tying Jimmy Connors’ record at Birmingham. The only player in history to have started his tenure at an event with a longer winning streak is Rafael Nadal. Nadal won 31 matches consecutively starting in 2005 before losing in 2009 at Roland Garros.

During his five-plus year reign at the China Open, Djokovic has dropped only three sets whilst winning five titles.

On Thursday he was never really tested by China’s top player. He broke twice on two opportunities in the opening set and did not face a break point.

In the second set he notched a double-break by breaking for 5-1 then held at 30 finishing with a backhand smash for to close the match in 55 minutes.

Djokovic finished with 21 winners against 13 unforced errors on the evening. He won 12 of 13 net forays and broke four times on five opportunities.

Zhang, who reached the quarterfinals at Beijing in 2012, is the only Chinese to have reached the last eight of an ATP event in the last 20 years. The Serb improves to 65-5 on the season and 42-4 on hard courts. He’ll face either sixth-seeded John Isner or John Millman in the quarterfinals.