Japan Open: Novak Djokovic thrashes Lucas Pouille to reach semis

World number one Novak Djokovic continued his rich vein of form at the ongoing Japan Open as he swept aside fifth seed Lucas Pouille of France in straight sets to cement his spot in the semi-finals of the tournament in Tokyo on Friday.

16-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic needed just 50 minutes to ease past his French opponent 6-1, 6-2 in a one-sided quarter-final clash of the men's singles event and continue his quest of clinching  fourth tour-level title of the season.  

Describing the clash as "one of the best matches" he played this year, Djokovic said that he had managed to put up a really flawless performance against Pouille--who had been playing well in the ongoing tournament.

"It was definitely one of the best matches I’ve played this year. Best one of this week [and it] came at the right time. I thought Lucas was playing really well the first couple of matches in this tournament,"  the Association for Tennis Professionals (ATP) quoted Djokovic as saying.

"I saw him play a couple of days ago against Nishioka and he was playing really well. I took away the time from him. I served well, served many aces, returned a lot of his serves back and just used every opportunity to come in. Just overall, a really flawless performance," he added.

The Serbian tennis maestro, who is just two victories away from earning his 10th trophy on a tournament main draw debut, has now made it to the semi-finals of at least six of his past seven tournaments and in eight of his 12 tournaments this season.

Djokovic will now lock horns with third seed David Goffin for a place in the summit showdown of the tournament.