Djokovic, Davydenko and Cilic inflict Beijing bagels

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:46

Novak Djokovic cruised into the quarter finals of the China Open on Wednesday with a 6-3 6-0 win over compatriot Viktor Troicki at the Olympic Tennis Center in Beijing.

The No.2 seed, looking for his third ATP title of the year, hit just seven unforced errors during the match, breaking Troicki to go 5-3 up in the first set and reeling off the next seven games to close out the match.

“I didn’t feel that energetic on the court at the start of the match but managed to break him – and from that point on, I played quite well,” Djokovic said.

“We grew up together. We come from the same country, same city. We’re very good friends, so it’s not easy to play against your friend on the court. But knowing his game quite well, I approached the match confident.”

No.4 seed Davydenko took another step towards qualification for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London with an even more emphatic 6-1 6-0 victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The Russian, who won his third ATP title of the year in Malaysia last weekend, is yet to secure a spot at the season finale, along with Andy Roddick, Fernando Verdasco, Fernando Gonzalez and Robin Soderling.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and Djokovic have already qualified for the event, to be hosted at London’s O2 Arena in November.

Djokovic and Verdasco, a 7-5 6-4 winner over compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero, will face off in the last eight. Davydenko will face No.8 seed Marin Cilic, who rallied to defeat Julien Benneteau 6-2 2-6 6-0.

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here