Djokovic edges past Harrison to reach third-round at Cincinnati

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia made a shaky start to the match, as he got broken in the opening game of the match, but the top-seed showed his true class from there and earned a comprehensive 6-2 6-3 victory over the World No. 78 Ryan Harrison of USA to reach the third-round of the 2011 Cincinnati Open.

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia earned a straight sets 6-2 6-3 victory over the World No. 78 Ryan Harrison of USA to reach the third-round of the 2011 Cincinnati Open, an ATP World Tour 1000 Masters Event, being played here in Cincinnati, Ohio. Djokovic made a shaky start to the match, as he got broken in the opening game of the match, but he showed his true class from there and finally earned a comprehensive victory – in the end. Djokovic took 1 hour and 16 minutes to win this match, as he earned 75% points on his first serve and got benefitted by Harrison’s 28 unforced errors. Djokovic converted 5 out of 12 break points to sail through.

After 44 minutes of play, Djokovic clinched the first set. Djokovic converted 4 out of 10 break points, while Harrison converted 2 out of 3 break points to put forth some competition in the first set. The big difference was unforced errors, as Harrison committed 20 unforced errors, as compared to Djokovic's 7. The top-seed raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set, before the American could hold on to his serve. Finally, Djokovic earned the victory in straight sets. In the next round, the top-seed will take on World No. 29 Radek Stepanek, who eased past Andrey Golubev in straight sets with a 6-3 7-6 scoreline.

Earlier in the day, World number 4, Andy Murray beat David Nalbandian 6-4 6-1, and marched into the third round of the Cincinnati Masters. In other matches, Rafael Nadal beat Julien Benneteau, 6-4, 7-5 as Nicolas Almagro defeated Ivo Karlovic in three tough sets. Mardy Fish beat Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets as Fernando Verdasco beat Michael Llodra, 6-4, 6-4. Czech veteran, Radek Stepanek also beat Andrey Golubev to enter the pre-quarters in Cincinnati.