Match report

Andreas Seppi © Tennistalk.com
Western & Southern Financial Group Masters
3rd round
7/31/08 1 2 Tot
it  Andreas Seppi 1 2 0
rs  Novak Djokovic 6 6 2
Novak Djokovic © Tennistalk.com

  • Djokovic Manhandles Seppi in Cincinnati

    8/1/08 6:05 AM | Ricky Dimon
    Novak Djokovic gets off to a slow start but bounces back to routine Andreas Seppi in two quick sets. The win puts Djokovic in the Cincinnati quarterfinals, where he will meet Ernests Gulbis.

    A break of serve in the opening game of the match probably gave Andreas Seppi some false hope, but he had no hope against Novak Djokovic in the third round of the Masters Series Cincinnati on Thursday. Djokovic stormed back to crush Seppi 6-1, 6-2 in just 59 minutes. His quarterfinal opponent will be up-and-coming Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

    For a moment Djokovic seemed to be in the same mediocre form that he displayed at Wimbledon and again in his first Cincinnati match against Simone Bolelli, but that quickly turned out not be the case. He won the next six games to win the opening set, losing just three points in his last three service games.

    Seppi continued to struggle amidst sweltering heat in the second frame of play. He managed to hold serve twice, but only after a quick break by Djokovic ended any already-slim chance of a comeback. The third-rank Serb simply remained solid from the baseline and wore out his fading opponent, who had taken out Tomas Berdych in a three-set thriller one day earlier.

    It will be the second head-to-head meeting between Djokovic and Gulbis when the two friends square off on Friday. Djokovic won their only previous encounter 7-5, 7-6(3), 7-5 earlier this summer in the French Open quarterfinals.

    “We've known each other for a long time,” said Djokovic of Gulbis. “As I was saying before, I've practiced with him for a couple of years in Germany in tennis academy of Niki Pilic.”

    This time, however, we aren't talking about practice. It's game on.

  • Thumbs up

    Djokovic picked up his serving after that first game, firing eight aces and winning 83 percent of his first-serve points.

  • Thumbs down

    Listless performance from Seppi, but he was either injured or at least struggling with the heat.

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