After dropping his first service game Novak Djokovic recovered quickly to crush Spanish qualifier Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour in the Foro Italico.
After displaying his surly side in his rain affected behind closed doors round of 32 match, today he put on a clinical display to the delight of the returning Roman fans.
“It was not good, it was great. I missed the crowd. It was nice to see them back.” five-time champion Djokovic, 33, said.
He added “my performance had been at least 20-30% better” (than against American Taylor Fritz in his opening match on Tuesday) when he was unhappy with the playing conditions and had been prone to errors
The World No. 1 now has a perfect 15 – 0 run into the quarter finals in the Italian Capital city.
The last time he lost a quarter final match in Rome was in 2013,losing in three sets to Tomas Berdych and stands 11 – 3.
Djokovic, holder of five Rome titles, now stands 57-9 at the ATP Masters 1000
“My next match will be against a Top 10 player, so it is going to be a battle”
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