Djokovic cruises past Andrey Golubev into the third round of the 2011 BNP Paribas Open
World number 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia thrashed world number 39 Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan in straight sets 6-0, 6-4 in the second round at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday. The Serbian took just 59 minutes to undo his opponent.
Djokovic was almost flawless in the opening set, taking just 21 minutes to win it 6-0. The Serbian hit 64 per cent of the first serves in the first set, winning a whopping 89 per cent of the points on them. On the other hand, his
opponent did not serve that well as he hit 50 per cent of the first serves and won the same percentage of points on them.
After losing the first set abysmally, Golubev tried to come back in the match taking an early lead as he broke Djokovic in the first game of the second set. However, the Serbian broke back in the sixth game to level the set at
3-3. Serving to stay in the set at 4-5, Golubev failed to hold his serve, losing the second set 4-6.
The Kazakh hit 2 aces and 52 per cent of the first serves in the second set. Whereas, Djokovic hit 64 per cent of the first serves, converting 71 per cent of them into points. He did not hit a single ace. Golubev failed to save
any of the 2 break points he faced in the second set.
Commenting on the match, Djokovic said, “It was great start of the tournament. With those first matches you don't know what to expect… I really tested myself today, because I had Golubev, who is coming up from a big Davis Cup wins,
and he's a very good player.”
The Serbian added, “He showed that in the second set. He started hitting the ball from the baseline really hard. But I was in the control most of the match. I am really happy with the way I was playing. I want to keep on moving.”
The 23-year-old won the title here in 2008, when he beat Mardy Fish of USA in three sets 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in the final. The Serbian lost to Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in straight sets 5-7, 3-6 in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas
Open last year.
Djokovic is slated to meet world number 34 Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in the third round. The Latvian defeated world number 43 Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei in three thrilling sets 6-7(1), 7-6(7), 6-1 in the second round.
The Serbian leads Gulbis 3-1 in the head-to-head record between the two players. In their last meeting, Djokovic defeated Gulbis in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in the round of 32 at the Swiss Indoors Basel last year.
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