Banja Luka Open: Djokovic survives van Assche scare, reaches quarter-finals

Serb Novak Djokovic, the top seed, beat Frenchman Luca Van Assche 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the last 8 of the Banja Luka Open at the Tennis Klub Mladost on Wednesday.

Djokovic, ranked No 1, will play the winner of the match between Serb Dusan Lajovic and Frenchman Gregoire Barrere, the No 8 seed, next.

Djokovic now has a 4-0 record against Frenchmen this year.

In the previous round of the Banja Luka tournament, Van Assche, ranked No 87, edged out Swiss Stan Wawrinka (1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4).

Banja Luka ATP250, other second-round results (Tennis Klub Mladost, clay, EUR 562.815, most recent results first):

• Juan Pablo Varillas vs. Andrey Rublev
• Richard Gasquet vs. Damir Dzumhur
• Miomir Kecmanovic vs. Abedallah Shelbayh
• Dusan Lajovic vs. Gregoire Barrere
• Alexei Popyrin vs. Alex Molcan: wednesday
• Laslo Djere beat Borna Coric (3): 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-4