Top-ranked Novak Djokovic advances to Italian Open quarterfinals, improves clay record to 8-1
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Top-ranked Novak Djokovic improved his clay-court record this season to 8-1 and reached the Italian Open quarterfinals by beating Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 6-4 Thursday.
The only danger Djokovic faced came while serving at 3-2 in the second set. He saved two break points — one with a big serve down the middle and the other with some crisp shot-making that forced Dolgopolov to net a backhand.
The start of the match was delayed for about 30 minutes because of rain.
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Djokovic, who opened his clay season by winning the Monte Carlo Masters last month, will next face either sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych or Kevin Anderson of South Africa.