Djokovic, Cilic Make Strong Starts; Tipsarevic Sets Federer Clash

© Getty ImagesNovak Djokovic was too strong for Ernests Gulbis as he advanced to the second round.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic made a strong start to his Swiss Indoors Basel campaign Tuesday, dismissing Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round of the ATP World Tour 500 indoor hard court tennis tournament.

“It was the first match of the tournament for me, and you never know what to expect,” said Djokovic. “At the start of the match I was trying to find a good rhythm and I kept in control of the match throughout. I was returning well, playing patiently, playing good tennis when I needed to and I’m happy to go through to the second round in straight sets.”

The Serbian extended his perfect record in Basel to 6-0, having beaten Roger Federer in last year’s final. He is bidding to win his third title of the season this week, following victories in Dubai (d. Youzhny) and Beijing (d. Ferrer) – both of which were rain-delayed Monday finals. He also reached his third Grand Slam final at the US Open, finishing runner-up to Rafael Nadal.

The 23-year-old Djokovic, who has a 53-14 match record on the season, will look to maintain his strong form in the next two weeks as he prepares to compete among the world’s best eight-ranked players at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held at The O2 in London 21-28 November. The Belgrade native will also lead Serbia in its first Davis Cup final against France in December.

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Sixth seed Marin Cilic, a quarter-finalist in Basel last year, opened his title bid with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Swiss wild card Marco Chiudinelli. The Croatian saved all four break points he faced and converted three of the nine opportunities he created to claim victory in 89 minutes. He improved to a 39-20 match record on the season.

Past champion David Nalbandian of Argentina saved all five break point chances faced on serve to dismiss Czech Jan Hajek 6-3, 6-4. The 29th-ranked Nalbandian won the Basel title on his tournament debut in 2002 and was a runner-up in 2002, '03 and '08.

Serbian Janko Tipsarevic will face three-time former champion and top seed Federer in the second round after winning his opening match against Denis Istomin 6-2, 6-4. World No. 46 Tipsarevic, who is making his main draw debut in Basel, broke serve three times from four opportunities to seal his 25th tour-level match win of the season in 74 minutes.

Former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet impressed in his 6-3, 6-1 victory over Asian No. 1 Yen-Hsun Lu, converting four of 14 break points and dropping only 13 points on serve to seal victory in 79 minutes. The Frenchman, who was a quarter-finalist in Basel in last year, improved to a 36-20 match record on the season, highlighted by winning his sixth career ATP World Tour title in Nice (d. Verdasco).

Recent first-time ATP World Tour winner Viktor Troicki also recorded an emphatic first-round win, crushing German Michael Berrer 6-3, 6-0 in just 49 minutes. The Serbian, who lifted his maiden trophy in Moscow (d. Baghdatis) just over a week ago, lost only eight points on serve and capitalised on four of nine break points to record his first win in three meetings with last week’s Vienna semi-finalist, Berrer.