The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Djokovic fends off Ferrero’s challenge

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Friday, Oct 19, 2007
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Djokovic fends off Ferrero’s challenge

MADRID: Third seed Novak Djokovic fended off a determined Juan Carlos Ferrero to claim a quarterfinal spot at the Madrid Masters with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win on Thursday.

Djokovic, who has two Masters Series shields amongst his five titles in a breakthrough season, will face Mario Ancic.

Earlier, last year’s losing finalist Fernando Gonzalez breezed into the last eight with an emphatic 6-4, 6-2 victory over Argentine Juan Monaco.

The win also took the fifth-seeded Chilean a step closer to securing his place at the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai for the second time in his career.

Gonzalez, who lost to Roger Federer in last year’s Madrid final, had little problem disposing of Monaco.

He eased through the first set and then cranked up the pressure in the second to break twice and wrap up victory in just over an hour.

The results:

At Madrid (Madrid Masters): Third round: Novak Djokovic bt Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 2-6, 6-4; Fernando Gonzalez bt Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-2; Roger Federer bt Guillermo Canas 6-0, 6-3; Mario Ancic bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-3.

Second round: Fernando Gonzalez bt Nicolas Almagro 7-6(11), 7-5; Guillermo Canas bt Agustin Calleri 6-3, 3-6, 7-5; Feliciano Lopez bt David Ferrer 7-6(3), 7-5; Ivo Karlovic bt Oscar Hernandez 7-5, 6-2; David Nalbandian bt Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(2); Paul-Henri Mathieu bt Richard Gasquet 7-6(8), 7-5; Juan Carlos Ferrero bt Carlos Moya 7-6 (2), 6-4; Novak Djokovic bt Fernando Verdasco 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-3; Rafael Nadal bt Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-4; Mario Ancic bt James Blake 6-3, 6-4; Stefan Koubek bt Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-5; Nicolas Kiefer bt Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 6-3; Juan Del Potro bt Tommy Robredo 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3.

At Zurich (Zurich Open): Second round: Alona Bondarenko bt Amelie Mauresmo 2-6, 6-4, 6-1; Tatiana Golovin bt Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-1; Nicole Vaidisova bt Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-4; Marion Bartoli bt Michaella Krajicek 6-4, 6-1. First round: Francesca Schiavone bt Elena Dementieva 4-6, 6-1, 4-2 (retd.). — Agencies

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