Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits the ball during his fourth round match against Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, September 6, 2015. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Novak Djokovic battled past Roberto Bautista Agut in four sets 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-3 at the 2015 U.S. Open to make his 26th grand slam quarterfinal appearance. The World No. 1 Serb will play Feliciano Lopez, who reached his first grand slam semifinal after beating Fabio Fognini 6-3 7-6 6-1.

Djokovic is considered one of the frontrunners to bring home the trophy at Flushing Meadows this year. This is the ninth time that the Serb has made it to the last eight of the U.S. Open.

The top seed Serbian tennis star has already played 13 sets at Flushing Meadows. He has only dropped a set during the second set of his match against Bautista Agut, who has lost to the Serb in all three encounters.

Djokovic has already fired 33 aces. He struck 106 winners and committed 100 unforced errors in his previous matches. The World No. 1, who won the 2011 U.S. Open, reportedly shouldn’t have any trouble in his upcoming quarterfinal match as he progressively builds his form, match after match, to emerge victorious en route for another title at Flushing Meadows. Since 2007, Djokovic had not lost before the semifinal at the said grand slam event.

Djokovic is looking to keep his perfect record against Lopez when he faces the Spanish tennis star in the last eight. Lopez is making his first quarterfinal trip not only at the U.S. Open but also at a grand slam tennis tournament. It also marks Lopez’s first grand slam quarterfinal appearance since the 2011 Wimbledon. In his last four matches, Lopez had 56 aces, 118 winners and 117 unforced errors.

Lopez had been unable to put a halt at Djokovic’s winning streak against him. Their most recent encounter took place at the Shanghai Masters in 2012 where Djokovic won in straight sets 6-3 6-3. The 19th-ranked Lopez had only won one set against Djokovic in Dubai back in 211.

The 2015 U.S. Open quarterfinal clash will be the fifth time that the two square off on hard court. It will be their second meeting in a grand slam event. Their first meeting was in the second round of the 2007 Australian Open.

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