Djokovic takes most wins crown from old rival Nadal

He had gone level with Spaniard Nadal after a routine victory over Australian Rinky Hijikata on Friday.

The world No.5 five sent down 10 aces in a match that lasted one hour 46 minutes to set up a last-16 tie with Italy's Lorenzo Musetti, who progressed past Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in a hard-fought 4-6 6-2 6-3 battle.

"It's an honour to have another milestone, to have another record broken," six-times Miami champion Djokovic said, almost 20 years after his first victory at a Masters 1000 event.

"There's always something on the line, pretty much every time I play and of course that motivates me to do well in the tournament.

"I started off really well, 6-1, very similar to the first match two days ago.

"Things got complicated in the second ... I had some chances at 4-4 but I think it was fair to take the second set to a tiebreak. Then, like two days ago, a perfect tiebreak. Great serving when I needed to, and overall just pleased to get through."

The 37-year-old has claimed a record 40 Masters 1000 titles, with his first coming in Miami in 2007. In 2018 he became the first and only player to win all nine Masters 1000 events, and by 2020 had won each tournament at least twice.

In other matches, Bulgarian 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who lost in last year's final, was a 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 7-5 winner over Russian Karen Khachanov and set up a clash with Brandon Nakashima.

Fellow American Sebastian Korda upset Greek ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 and will next face Frenchman Gael Monfils, a 7-5 5-7 7-6 (7-1) winner over Spaniard Jaume Munar.

Former finalist Casper Ruud advanced with a straight-sets win over Chile's Alejandro Tabilo, setting up a last-16 showdown with Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, who was a 6-2 7-6 (7-4) winner over American 12th seed Tommy Paul.

With Reuters.