Djokovic Races Into Third Round

© Getty ImagesNovak Djokovic, the 2008 titlist, has a 12-2 record in Rome.

Second seed Novak Djokovic, who captured the 2008 Internazionali BNL d'Italia title, required just one hour to beat Jeremy Chardy of France 6-1, 6-1 to become the first player into the third round at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tennis tournament.

Benefitting from six days of practise at the Foro Italiaco, Djokovic did not face a break point and won 74 per cent of service points to extend his winning streak to 4-0 over World No. 46 Chardy, who dropped to an 8-11 match record on the season. The 22-year-old Djokovic hit 20 winners and won 22 of 27 first service points.

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"The sooner you finish the happier you are," said Djokovic, who reached the semi-finals at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (l. to Verdasco) two weeks ago. "I've played in this tournament many times so you don't need many hours to get used to the court.

"Always in your first match [at] a tournament you don't know what to expect, especially [when you] play against a player with such a hard serve. It can be difficult but I was very focused right from the first moment.

"I think [my return] was one of the keys today. I knew he was going to serve well, so I needed to return well to be in control of the match."

Fourth seed Andy Murray advanced to a potential third-round showdown with gritty Spaniard David Ferrer after a confidence-boosting 6-2, 6-4 win over Andreas Seppi. Murray, who snapped a three-match losing streak, won 89 percent of points on his first serve.

Murray said that he was happy with his opening performance. "After the start he started playing very badly and I started playing good and so I was very satisfied with that. I did very well in the second set especially and so everything was good."

Ferrer, who put 80 percent of first serves into play, converted all five break points he earned in a 6-4, 6-1 win over Evgeny Korolev. On Wednesday Ferrer plays Italian wild card Potito Starace for the right to play Murray.

Romanian Victor Hanescu, runner-up to Stanislas Wawrinka at this month's Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, knocked out No. 16 seed Juan Monaco of Argentina 7-6(4), 6-4 in one hour and 37 minutes. In the third round, he will meet either four-time champion Rafael Nadal or Philipp Kohlschreiber.