Djokovic makes winning return in Athens / Photo: JULIEN DE ROSA - AFP/File
Djokovic makes winning return in Athens
Novak Djokovic returned after three weeks out of action to ease past Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets at the Athens ATP tournament on Tuesday.
Top seed Djokovic, the recipient of a first-round bye at the indoor hard-court tournament, won through 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 against his 89th-ranked opponent in the round of 16.
Djokovic, 38, had lost his previous two meetings against Tabilo, a decade younger, who beat the Serb on clay in Rome last year and Monte Carlo this season.
The world number five took the measure of the Chilean in the opening set tiebreak and broke twice in the second set to reach his 225th tour-level quarter-final.
He will next play either Portugal's Nuno Borges or American qualifier Eliot Spizzirri for a place in the semi-finals.
Djokovic will compete in next week's ATP Finals in Turin.
After his defeat in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters 1000 against Valentin Vacherot on October 11, he skipped the Paris Masters, which ended on Sunday.
R.Abate--IM
