Djokovic routs Gasquet to reach Shanghai quarters

SHANGHAI (AP)?Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray both eased into the quarterfinals at the Shanghai Masters with straight-sets victories Thursday.

Djokovic, aiming to win back-to-back titles after capturing the China Open in Beijing last week, defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-1.

Gasquet looked drained after winning two matches due to the rain-delayed schedule earlier in the week. He dropped serve five times and had only six winners, compared to 25 for the second-ranked Serb.

?I don?t know how (Gasquet) felt and I didn?t care,? Djokovic said. ?I did really well from the start. I put pressure on him and I was aggressive. I didn?t give him a chance to come back into the match.?

Djokovic next faces Spain?s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who upset Wimbledon finalist and seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 (4), 6-3. Garcia-Lopez advanced Wednesday when Andy Roddick retired with a groin injury while leading 6-3, 2-3.

Murray beat qualifier Jeremy Chardy of France 6-3, 6-4 to reach his ninth quarterfinal this year.

The Scot has benefited from a relatively easy draw, receiving a first-round bye and beating a 465th-ranked Chinese wild card in the second round. He will meet either 12th-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Germany?s Florian Mayer in the quarterfinals.

Murray started off slowly against the 59th-ranked Chardy, facing three break points on his opening serve. But he served two aces and flicked a volley past Chardy at the net to hold and then immediately broke his opponent at love in the next game.

?I served well under pressure,? Murray said. ?That was really, really important to get a good start in the match because he?s very, very streaky. He can play some great tennis, so I needed to try to get ahead early and I managed to do that.?

Tsonga and Mayer were playing later Thursday, along with top-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain and third-seeded Swiss Roger Federer.

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