Dubai, February 23: Maintaining his strong record at the Dubai Tennis Championships, Novak Djokovic stormed into the quarter-finals for the 12th consecutive time after beating Russian Karen Khachanov, here on Wednesday.

The World No 1 has lifted the trophy in Dubai five times and continued his 2022 title bid with a dominant display against Khachanov, beating him 6-3, 7-6(2) in one hour and 38 minutes at the ATP 500 event. Dubai Tennis Championships 2022: Novak Djokovic Continues Title Quest, Jannik Sinner Denies Andy Murray His 700th Career Victory.

Djokovic, who made a winning return to the Tour after defeating Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the first round, once again showed little signs of rustiness, winning 83 per cent (38/46) of his first-serve points against Khachanov to improve to 5-1 in their ATP Head2Head series.

"I was feeling excited and motivated. But also at the same time I was feeling stressed. Particularly at the moments when I was facing break points. I thought the atmosphere in the stadium was terrific," Djokovic said in his on-court interview.

In an entertaining match, Djokovic was in control in the first set, not facing a break point as he moved ahead. He then encountered an attacking bombardment from the Russian in the second set, with Khachanov hammering his groundstrokes to recover from 2-4 to eventually force a tie-break. However, Djokovic refocused and raised his level in the tie-break, sealing his win with a thunderous return.

Competing in his first tournament of the season, the 34-year-old will next play Jiri Vesely after the Czech qualifier upset Doha Champion Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-4. With his victory, Djokovic has now advanced to at least the quarter-final stage in Dubai every year he has competed at the event since his debut in 2007, an atptour.com report said.

"I missed it [playing competitively]. This is my life. This is what I have known for the past 20 years. Tennis is my love. I enjoy bringing positive energy and memories for people who watch," the Serbian said.

Djokovic will be keen to perform well this week in order to retain his No 1 in the ATP Rankings, which is under threat from Daniil Medvedev. The Russian is in action at the Abierto Mexicano tournament in Acapulco.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 24, 2022 01:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).