Djokovic notched his seventh win over the 87th-ranked Hanescu in as many career meetings. PHOTO: AFP
The world number two and second seed, a two-time winner in the California desert, saved all five break points he faced on the way to a 7-6 (7/1), 6-2 victory.
“It was one of those days where you get to serve well and everything else is just kind of trying to find the way to play the right shots at the right time,” said Djokovic.
“I didn’t make any returns in the first set. Second set I also struggled with the return, which is one of my better sides in the game generally speaking.”
Meanwhile, Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain bounced fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Bautista, ranked 53rd in the world, used a punishing ground game to notch his third career win over a top-10 player.
“I played unbelievable,” Bautista said. “I was not serving very well, I had to play my best tennis from the baseline to win the match.”
Berdych, an Australian Open semi-finalist who lifted the trophy in Rotterdam this year, arrived in California off a runner-up finish to Roger Federer in Dubai.
The 28-year-old Czech was at a loss to explain his off-key outing.
“Anything I touched today was basically bad and wrong,” he said. “Definitely my worst match that I had this year.”
Radwanska breezes past Beck
Second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland led the way into the women’s fourth round of the $12 million combined WTA and ATP Masters tournament.
Radwanska, ranked third in the world, thumped 48th-ranked German Annika Beck 6-0, 6-0.
Radwanska next faces France’s Alize Cornet, who battled for three hours and 26 minutes to beat 14th-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 6-3.
It was the second-longest match of the year on the WTA Tour, after Maria Sharapova’s three-hour, 28-minute win over Karin Knapp at the Australian Open.
“I don’t know how I won this match,” said Cornet, who added that fatigue may have worked in her favour in the third set.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2014.
Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ