Mason, OH – World No. 1 superstar Novak Djokovic and two-time champion Andy Murray were easy second-round winners Wednesday at the $3 million Western & Southern Open, a hardcourt ATP Masters 1000 event.
After enjoying an opening-round bye, the four-time runner-up Djokovic got past gritty Argentine Juan Monaco 7-5, 6-2. Djokovic was last year's runner-up to five-time Cincinnati champion Roger Federer.
Up next for Djokovic, an unsuccessful finalist here four of the last five years, will be Belgian qualifier David Goffin.
The second-seeded reigning Wimbledon and U.S. Open titlist Murray cruised past 31-year-old Russian veteran Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-3 in 70 minutes at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Murray piled up five breaks of serve, compared to only one for Youzhny on Day 4.
"I had good anticipation so I was able to chase a lot of balls down and today I managed to get a lot of balls back," Murray said.
"It's not necessarily getting to the ball it's putting it in a position where it's difficult for your opponent to hit a winner off and I think I did that well today."
Murray, who titled here in 2008 and 2011, will meet France's Julien Benneteau in the third round on Thursday.
Seventh-seeded Argentine slugger Juan Martin del Potro dismissed Russian Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 7-5, while towering American John Isner upended eighth- seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-6 (8-6), 6-2. The 6-foot-7 former U.S. Open champion del Potro titled in Washington two weeks ago by beating the 6- foot-9 Isner in the all-tall final in D.C.
Eleventh-seeded German Tommy Haas moved on with a 6-4, 6-1 decision against Spaniard Marcel Granollers, while 12th-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic doused former top-10 Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) on Wednesday. Raonic was last week's Montreal Masters runner-up to Rafael Nadal. Haas' third-round opponent will be the reigning and five-time overall Cincy champion Federer.
Some other second-round results saw Spanish left-hander Feliciano Lopez get past Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 2-2, retired, and Goffin hold off last week's Montreal semifinalist Vasek Pospisil, of Canada, 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6).
This is the last Masters tournament before the U.S. Open, which will commence August 26 in New York.
The 2013 Cincinnati champ will collect $583,800.
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