EASY OUTING FOR DJOKER, MURRAY

EASY OUTING FOR DJOKER, MURRAY

Both feeling refreshed and recharged, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray each won in straight sets Thursday to reach the quarterfinals at the Shanghai Masters.

The top-ranked Djokovic was broken once in a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Vasek Pospisil, improving his record at the tournament to 26-3. Murray was even better: He won 21 of 22 points on his first serve and made only 10 errors in a 6-1, 6-3 win over 13th-seeded Lucas Pouille.

Both players have said they feel energized this week after taking time off following the US Open.

Djokovic hasn't played at all because of an elbow injury, pulling out of the China Open in Beijing last week. He said he used the time away to recover after a mentally exhausting summer, find more balance in his life, and rediscover his passion for the game.

Djokovic said the rest and mental adjustments are already helping him on the court, too. Despite dropping serve once, he said he played a nearly complete match against Pospisil.

"I was very pleased with the way I have played from the first to last point," Djokovic said. "I don't think I have dropped my level at all."

Murray has played more in recent weeks, leading Britain against Argentina in the Davis Cup semifinals and then capturing the China Open title. But he also had some downtime.

"My body felt so much better after taking like seven, eight days off of complete rest, which I hadn't had for quite a long time," Murray said. "I'm really, really happy and glad now that I did that. It's obviously working out well for me just now."

Murray hasn't dropped a set in his last eight matches, going back to his victory over Guido Pella in the Davis Cup last month.

US Open champion Stan Wawrinka didn't look nearly as fresh on Thursday. The third-seeded Swiss player had 43 unforced errors in a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Gilles Simon.

Sixth-seeded Gael Monfils was knocked out of the tournament, too. He fell to David Goffin 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

In other matches, Jack Sock notched another breakthrough in what's been his best season on tour, rebounding to beat Milos Raonic 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8) and reach his first Masters-level quarterfinal.

Paes-Begemann in final

Tashkent: Leander Paes earned himself a shot at his third ATP Challenger level title of the season by reaching the final of the $125000 Tashkent event with partner Andre Begemann, on Thursday.

The third seeded Indo-German duo annihilated local pair and giant-killers Sanjar Fayziev and Jurabeck Karmov 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals of the hard court event. Paes and Begemann needed only 42 minutes to win the match, in which they broke their rivals five times. 

 (The pioneer)