World number one Novak Djokovic moved smoothly into the third round of the Internazionali d’Italia with a 6-2 6-3 victory over Spain’s Albert Montanes in Rome
It was just what the Serbian needed after his early exit in Madrid last week and, although Montanes briefly led by a break early on, there were no real alarms for the top seed.
Djokovic told Sky Sports 2: “This win means a lot to me for several reasons. I didn’t have a great week in Madrid, I didn’t feel good. I’ve been here for six days trying to work very hard and prepare myself for this tournament.
“I need to be physically and mentally fit and I think I’m going in the right direction. I still need to play better and hopefully I can elevate my game as the week goes on.”
Djokovic’s Madrid conqueror was rising star Grigor Dimitrov, but there were no heroics from the young Bulgarian on Tuesday as he lost out 6-4 6-4 to ninth seed Richard Gasquet.
Roger Federer, who also suffered a shock defeat in Madrid, had no such problems on Tuesday as he cruised to a 6-1 6-2 win over Potito Starace.
Nicolas Almagro and Tommy Haas, seeded 12th and 13th respectively, were first-round casualties.
Almagro lost out 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 to France’s Julien Benneteau, with Haas, one of the players of 2013 so far, going down 6-4 6-3 against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.
Meanwhile, there will be no third-round meeting between Madrid champion Rafael Nadal and his Wimbledon conqueror Lukas Rosol after the Czech lost in three sets to Viktor Troicki on Tuesday.
