Novak Djokovic defeated China’s top player Ze Zhang in front of his home fans during their second-round match at Beijing’s National Tennis Stadium on Thursday. The Serb only needed 54 minutes to beat the Zhang 6-2 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals.

The top seed Serb fired four aces and 21 winners during the match. He won 84 percent of his first serve and 69 percent of second serve points. Zhang, who registered the fastest serve of the match at 208 kp/h, had three aces. The Chinese won 52 percent of first serve and 40 percent of second serve points.

Speaking after the match, Djokovic said that Zhang has the potential of making it in the top 100 of the world rankings. The 25-year-old Chinese currently ranks 219th in the world, but he achieved his career-high singles rank at 148 in May 2013.

“He (Zhang) has obviously the game to be in top 100,” Djokovic said. “Today, I didn’t give him much opportunity to really play his tennis because I was playing very quick.”

Djokovic is now 26-0 in his last three appearances in Beijing. The victory also moved the five-time China Open champion toward Rafael Nadal’s record for unbeaten starts to a tournament. Nadal is 31-0 at the French Open. The Spaniard is also in Beijing and is set to play Jack Sock in the second round.

Djokovic will face American John Isner in the quarterfinals. Isner beat Australian qualifier John Millman 6-4 7-6 6-4 to set up a meeting with the defending Serbian champion. It will be a repeat of the pair’s semifinal clash in Beijing in 2010, where Djokovic won 7-6(1) 6-2.

Djokovic holds a 7-2 series advantage over Isner, with the Serb winning four consecutive matches. He had only dropped seven sets against 13th-ranked Isner in all their previous clashes.

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