Djokovic claims emphatic victory
Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:55
The dominant Serb remains well on track for a Sunday night showdown against home favourite and successive three-time winner of this event Roger Federer, and will come up against either Stanislas Wawrinka or Jarko Nieminen in the next phase.
The second seed made a devastating start to the match, and broke twice to take the first four games in no time at all to storm into an unassailable first-set lead. Hernych did force three break points in a close fifth game, but Djokovic was in no mood to be charitable and reclaimed each of them.
After having secured a first-set whitewash in only half an hour of play, the second set followed suit as the 2008 Australian Open champion continued to mercilessly destroy his opponent. He achieved a break conversion rate of 60%, and never looked troubled as he completed the rout without dropping a single game.
Earlier on centre court there was an all-Swiss encounter, as home town wildcard Marco Chiudinelli progressed to the last eight of the competition with a two-sets-to-one victory over compatriot Michael Lammer.
World number 73 Chiudinelli – the conqueror of eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber in the last round – had to come from a set down to progress as he secured a 2-6 6-3 6-3 victory.
Lammer made the brighter start to the contest and broke twice to take the first set, although he was edged out in a tight second set. Chiudinelli’s superior quality shone through in the final set as he put constant pressure on his lower-ranked opponent, and will now face the winner of this evening’s clash between John Isner and Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals.
Elsewhere on court number two, Evgeny Korolev booked a tie in the next round against world number one Federer after he triumphed in straight sets against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. The Russian took the first set 6-4 courtesy of a single break in the third game of the match, and then recovered from 4-1 down in the second to turn the deficit into a 7-1 tie break success.
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