Djokovic Races Into Third Round

© AFP/Getty ImagesNovak Djokovic has dropped just seven games in two matches so far.

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic is not wasting any time in his title defence at the US Open. The Serb has dropped just seven games to reach the third round in New York, following up his 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Paolo Lorenzi with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 dismissal of Brazil’s Rogerio Dutra Silva on Friday.

The 25-year-old Djokovic required just one hour and 39 minutes to ease past the No. 112-ranked Dutra Silva, hitting 29 winners to 14 unforced errors and capitalising on six of his 16 break point chances. He lost just 13 points on serve throughout.

"It was different conditions today obviously from the first match I played, the night session," assessed Djokovic. "I didn't know much about my opponent. Never saw him play. So that could have been a difficulty at the start in order to figure out what his game plan is. But I played well from the start to the end."

Djokovic won his third Grand Slam of a remarkable 2011 season with victory over Rafael Nadal in the US Open final. In his first ever major final, at Flushing Meadows in 2007, he was beaten by Roger Federer. Since then the Belgrade native has amassed five Grand Slam championships, most recently triumphing at the 2012 Australian Open (d. Nadal).

Djokovic came into New York on the back of a strong run of form. He captured his 12th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the Rogers Cup in Toronto (d. Gasquet) and finished runner-up to Federer at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

He will look to improve upon his 56-10 season match record when he plays Frenchman Julien Benneteau for a place in the fourth round. The 31st-seeded Benneteau rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(1), 7-5 win over American Dennis Novikov.

Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, the World No. 8, joined Djokovic in the third round as he ended the run of American Brian Baker 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Baker had returned to Flushing Meadows this week for the first time since 2005, sidelined for six years following numerous surgeries.

Tipsarevic, a quarter-finalist in 2011 (l to Djokovic), next faces 99th-ranked Grega Zemlja of Slovenia. Zemlja converted all five of his break points to defeat German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. The 25 year old is making his US Open debut and advanced to the third round for the first time in his seventh Grand Slam tournament.

Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, the No. 18 seed, needed five sets to get by Belgian Steve Darcis 6-7(6), 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 and will meet 14th-seeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov in the third round. Dolgopolov, who rallied from two sets down in his opening match against American Jesse Levine, defeated former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6(5).

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