PARIS — Novak Djokovic's serve suffered a second-set malfunction in his third round match against Gilles Simon at the Paris Masters but stayed on course for a third consecutive title at Bercy with a 6-3 7-5 victory on Thursday.
The world number one dropped serve four times in the second set but Simon could not capitalize as Djokovic set up a quarter-final against either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Tomas Berdych.
Djokovic, however, will need to raise his game if he is to win a fourth title on the banks of the River Seine as his possible final opponent, Andy Murray, looked in ominous form.