Djokovic notches 700 wins

Novak Djokovic has won his 700th career match, dispatching Tunisian wildcard Malek Jaziri 6-1 6-2 to book a spot in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Djokovic, who joined the tour a decade ago, took his career match record to 700-146.

He’s one of three active players to reach 700 wins, the others being Roger Federer with 1067, and Rafael Nadal on 775.

“Sounds like I played many matches in my career,” Djokovic told the crowd when asked about the milestone.

World No.1 Djokovic has won the Dubai title four times, but lost to Federer in the past two years.

In the first set, Djokovic lost just two points in four service games. The only scare he faced was when serving for the match in the eighth game of the second set; he double faulted to face break point, but recovered to secure the match three points later.

“Solid match and performance,” Djokovic said. “I will take the positives for tomorrow.”

Djokovic will play sixth-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain in the quarters; Lopez advanced with a 6-3 7-6(7) win over Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic.

Second-seeded Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland advanced with a 7-5 6-1 win against Croatian qualifier Franko Skugor.

Philipp Kohlschreiber beat Borna Coric of Croatia 6-2, 7-6(5) while third-seeded Tomas Berdych reached his fourth quarterfinal of the season with a 6-2 6-2 win over Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano.

Berdych, a two-time Dubai finalist, holds a 22-4 win-loss record at the tournament and has reached at least the semifinals in four of the last five years.

He next plays Nick Kyrgios after the Australian defeated Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-3 6-2.

Kyrgios upset Berdych en route to winning his first career title in Marseille, France last week.

What a wonderful journey! I'm enjoying every moment and every milestone #Nole700 #LoveMyJob pic.twitter.com/oK9QcHFJCH

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) February 24, 2016

Fourth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain pummelled Hyeon Chung of South Korea 6-0 6-1 to reach his fifth quarterfinal of the year.

The 18th-ranked Bautista Agut has won two of his four career titles this year – at Auckland, New Zealand, and Sofia, Bulgaria.

In the quarters he plays Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who defeated Vasek Pospisil of Canada 6-4 6-2.