Melbourne: Defending champion Novak Djokovic moved past Italian Fabio Fognini into the quarter-finals yesterday as he set up a repeat of last year’s classic encounter with Stanislas Wawrinka.

Novak Djokovic

Djokovic outclassed the Italian 15th seed in straight sets to reach the last eight in quick time, closely followed by David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych.

Djokovic coasted to a 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 victory in just one hour 33 minutes to claim his 19th straight Grand Slam quarter-final, a total only bettered by Roger Federer (36) and Jimmy Connors (27).

Wawrinka sent back Spanish 17th seed Tommy Robredo 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5) in the night match on Rod Laver Arena.

“I’ve felt from the start of this tournament that I’ve been elevating my game as the tournament is going on. Every match is better,” Djokovic said.