Match report

Albert Montanes © Tennistalk.com
ATP Masters Series Hamburg
Quarter final
5/16/08 1 2 Tot
es  Albert Montanes 2 3 0
rs  Novak Djokovic 6 6 2
Novak Djokovic © Tennistalk.com

  • Djokovic Still Cruising After Rout of Montanes

    5/16/08 5:54 PM | Ricky Dimon
    As expected, Novak Djokovic has almost no trouble with unseeded Albert Montanes on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Masters Series Hamburg. Next up for Djokovic could be a showdown with Rafael Nadal.

    Novak Djokovic extended his clay-court winning streak to eight matches on Friday, easing past Albert Montanes 6-3, 6-3 in the Hamburg quarterfinals. His next test could come in the form of Rafael Nadal, if the world No. 2 gets past Carlos Moya later today.

    Djokovic was hardly tested against Montanes, although the Spaniard came out playing like he had nothing to lose and broke serve in the very first game. That, however, only seemed to wake up Djokovic, who immediately broke back. In fact, the Serb did not drop serve again over the entire match. Serving at 83 percent in the opening frame of play certainly helped Djokovic's efforts, and one more break of Montanes was all he needed, although he added a third break of serve to finish the set in style.

    Montanes had three chances to start the second set just as he had begun the first, but Djokovic saved all of those break points and it was much more routine for him after that. The 78th-ranked player in the world simply did not have enough weapons to faze his opponent, and Djokovic dictated play with ease throughout the proceedings. Djokovic also looked to be aggressive and he picked the right times to come into net and finish off points with volleys after running Montanes all over the place.

    Djokovic is now just one match away from overtaking Nadal's No. 2 position in the ATP rankings. If Nadal loses to Moya today or to Djokovic tomorrow, it will happen.

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