Djokovic continues excellent run in Shanghai

NOVAK Djokovic continued his impressive recent form with a blistering straight-sets victory over Rainer Schüttler to march into the quarter finals of the Shanghai Masters.

 IN SONG: Novak Djokovic continues his excellent form in Asia with convincing win over Rainer Schutter

The second seed wasted no time in disposing of his German opponent 6-4, 6-2 and book a last eight match with either Tomas Berdych or Gilles Simon.

Djokovic continued his impressive form in Asia, having lifted the Tennis Masters Cup last year in Shanghai, and having captured victory in the 2009 China Open earlier this month.

And the Serb is hopefully of continuing his winning run in Shanghai, provided he can last the pace.

"I did not have a great amount of time to celebrate winning the Chinese Open because I had to come straight here," he said.

"But it gave me a lot of confidence and that plays a big role in tennis. I won the title here last year on this court and hopefully I can continue that run.

"It's nice to come back here. I get a lot of support from the Chinese fans - it's a pleasure playing here."

"Hopefully I will be able to stay strong physically and continue to play well."

While Djokovic continued his march in China, France's Gael Monfils became the latest player to withdraw from the tournament.

He threw in the towel when a set and 3-0 down to Ivan Ljubicic, while Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka also withdrew from the deciding set against Radel Stepanek.

Already, US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro and Andy Roddick have pulled out of the competition with injuries, while world number Roger Federer and Britain's Andy Murray did not make the trip to China, citing fatigue and a wrist injury respectively.