Novak Djokovic cruised into the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters with a straight-set demolition of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Thursday.

Djokovic took an hour and 10 minutes to wrap up an emphatic 6-2 6-1 victory at the Foro Italico.

Davidovich Fokina broke the top seed’s serve in the first game of the match but that proved to be a false dawn for the Spanish qualifier.

Djokovic put the 21-year-old under huge pressure with another returning masterclass, breaking back immediately and on two more occasions to seal the first set.

The 18-time grand slam champion was relentless in the second set, forcing Davidovich Fokina’s unforced error count up to 30 as he breezed into the last eight.

Djokovic has reached at least the quarter-final stage in each of his 15 appearances at the prestigious tournament in Rome.

He would face Stefanos Tsitsipas or Matteo Berrettini for a place in the semi-finals.

The Serbian said: “I thought I played well. He started well and broke my serve in the first game.

“I made some errors, but I managed to break back right away and establish the control and consistency on the court.

“I think from the back of the court I was just a bit more solid than him.

“He made some unforced errors and double faults in key moments, which obviously helped me get that necessary break forward.

“I thought I played better, at least 20 or 30 per cent better than I did against [Taylor] Fritz a few days ago. I am on a good trajectory and hopefully, tomorrow will be even better.”

(dpa/NAN)