It may have taken three matches but Novak Djokovic finally delivered a statement of intent at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday by defeating Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals.
Djokovic, the top seed, was strangely subdued in his first-round win over qualifier Tomas Machac - needing a third-set tiebreak to prevail - and while he was much improved in the second round against world No 39 Tallon Griekspoor, it still contained uncharacteristic lapses and errors.
Yet, when faced with a significant step up in quality, Djokovic delivered. It wasn't that the world No 1 necessarily dominated the sixth-seeded Hurkacz, more that he just looked so comfortable in his 6-3, 7-5 victory; rarely troubled, always in control, one of those all-too familiar performances where he cruised along in third gear and only revved into fourth when the moment called for it.
Playing against a player of Hurkacz's calibre and with the big weapons the Pole possesses, chances are usually at a premium and so it transpired for the majority of this match on Centre Court, a break in each set proving the difference.
Djokovic looked like he finally got a read on Hurkacz's massive serve in the 11th game of the second set and finally earned the deserved break at the fifth attempt before closing out the victory on serve with ease.
It was Djokovic's 15th straight win to start the year, following titles in Adelaide and at the Australian Open, and he is now just two wins away from a sixth trophy in Dubai.
"It was a challenging match again Hubert, like it always is," Djokovic, 35, said on court. "I think he's got one of the best serves in the game, so in the second set until the 11th game I didn't have too many chances. Fortunately I was able to find a rhythm on my serve.
"Really one or two points can decide the winner of a match like this. There's not much separating the players, so I'm just really glad with the way I played under pressure."
Next up is the semi-final most tennis fans would have hoped for when the draw was released last weekend.
Daniil Medvedev has been in similarly scintillating form and extended his winning run to 12 matches - a run that has earned the Russian titles in Rotterdam and Doha, and demonstrates that he is very much back to his ruthless best. The latest was a clinical 6-3, 6-2 victory over Croatian eighth seed Borna Coric.
At the opposite end of the draw, Andrey Rublev produced a far less stressful victory than his effort in the previous round by beating Botic Van De Zandschulp 6-3, 7-6.
The defending champion saved five match points against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Wednesday, but was a more comfortable winner in the quarter-finals despite a late wobble while serving for the match.
If the Russian second seed is to keep alive his title defence beyond the semi-finals, he will need to beat Alexander Zverev for the first time having lost to the German in all five previous meetings. The Olympic champion booked his place in the last four with a 7-5, 6-4 over Italy's Lorenzo Sonego.
"I need to play good tennis, to play aggressive," Rublev said about Zverev. "He's a top player, he was winning so many great titles and beating all the top players, so he knows how to play tennis and he knows how to play against me. I also know how to play against him. It will be about all the little details."
