Authoritative and impressive, the defending champion Novak Djokovic stormed into the quarter-finals for the fourth straight year with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 demolition of his compatriot Viktor Troicki. The world No1 needed only 90 minutes for victory and with every match he is looking in more and more ominous form as he tries to win the title for the second time.
"I think I played really well throughout the whole match," Djokovic said. "It is never straightforward. You want to always focus on every point because at this stage matches are tough and getting more difficult. I think I have played well the last three matches I've played, in these conditions under the closed roof."
Having beaten Troicki in 11 of their 12 previous meetings, Djokovic would have been understandably confident going into the match and it showed as he struck 31 winners with seemingly little effort. At no time did it look as if either man believed it would end in anything other than a win for the No 1 seed. Troicki is a fine player, ranked 34th in the world, but Djokovic has the edge in every department of the game and, with the roof closed over Centre Court, he turned on the style.
It is almost as if there is an unwritten rule when Djokovic plays his fellow Serbs that they are not allowed to beat him, much as with Rafael Nadal, who dominates matches with his fellow Spaniards. Troicki had the audacity to break serve once but it proved nothing more than token resistance.
Having broken serve for 3-1, Djokovic dropped his own serve but quickly moved ahead again and the first set was gone. The second set was even more impressive as Djokovic ripped through it and, though Troicki put together a few decent games in the third, the result was a formality.
Having dropped only one set on his way to the last eight, Djokovic is playing probably the best tennis of all the favourites and he will now have the advantage of a day's rest while his next opponent, Richard Gasquet of France or Germany's Florian Mayer, must complete their match on Tuesday.
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image: © Mark Howard Photography
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