After beating Anderson 6-3, 6-4 in the second round, Djokovic says conditions give him the upper hand if he faces Rafa
After beating Anderson 6-3, 6-4 in the second round, Djokovic says conditions give him the upper hand if he faces Rafa
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World No 2 Djokovic came into the event having won all five of his tournaments so far this year and with a 27-0 record ufffd the best start to a season by any male player in more than two decades.
Serbian Novak Djokovic returns to South African Kevin Anderson during
yesterday's second round match in the Madrid Open. PIC/Getty Images
And the Serbian improved that streak with a 6-3, 6-4 win in his second clay court competition of the year.
Djokovic, who missed last year's tournament due to illness, said: "I'm happy with today's performance.
"It was my first match in Madrid after two years and conditions are really fast here and it's hard to control the ball. If you're playing a big server like Anderson it's a big effort to make a break and I had a lot of work to break him, but I did twice, once in each set, which was enough."
If he continues his winning streak, Djokovic could meet top seed Rafael Nadal in the final.
Nadal has an astonishing record on clay, winning 213 of his 229 competitive matches and claiming 34 successive victories.
But Djokovic added: "I think there are players who can beat Rafa in these conditions.
"If there's any court that maybe you can have a chance against him on clay, maybe it's this one here.
Easy win for Nadal
Meanwhile, Nadal won a 35th consecutive match on the surface, efficiently dispatching former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis 6-1, 6-3 in just under 90 minutes. Nadal has not lost on clay since 2009 in the French Open to Robin Soderling.
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