ATP Bejiing (2012 China Open) is down to quarterfinalists and in what is a shocking development there are only two seeded players left in the draw. The tournament, which has seen a lot of upsets and injuries, only has third seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and top seeded Novak Djokovic remaining of the tournament's top eight. Both of those two players will be in action on Friday from Beijing as Djokovic looks to close the gap between he and Roger Federer for top spot on tour.

Djokovic will face Austrian Jurgen Melzer in one of the quarterfinals following Melzer's victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov. Melzer has a famous victory over Djokovic having defeated the Serb in the quarterfinals of the 2010 French Open after trailing two sets to love. But overall Djokovic leads their head-to-head series 2-1 with one of his victories coming on the hard court surface.

Melzer can be a tough out and he has an active 500 level title from Memphis earlier this season. But the current World No. 37 was playing better back in 2010 than he is playing now while Djokovic has improved since their last meeting. Additionally, the Austrian has not beaten anyone ranked in the top ten since the spring of 2011 when he took Federer out of the Monte Carlo draw.

Djokovic was a large favorite to win the title in Beijing pre-tournament. With all of the seeded players dropping like flies, he is even more of a favorite now that he is in the final eight at the China Open with relatively weak competition blocking his path to the final. Melzer is the most talented player besides Djokovic on the top half of the draw however the Austrian clearly looks outmatched. Looking ahead at a prospective semifinal, Djokovic would face either Florian Mayer or World No. 165 Ze Zhang and neither of those players can be expected to bounce the Serb from Beijing.

At this point, Tsonga or unseeded American Sam Querrey look like the only threats against Djokovic's title pursuit. Querrey will face Feliciano Lopez in one quarterfinal while Tsonga will have to deal with a tough hard-courter in Mikhail Youzhny, a two-time US Open semifinalist. Expect Djokovic to make the final with little expended energy in his next two matches where he should be fresh against Tsonga, Querrey, or even Youzhny - three players that could take a lot out of each other prior to the final.

Melzer and Djokovic will meet in Beijing on Friday in a match that will start not before 7:30pm (CST).