World number two Novak Djokovic recovered from a set down to defeat fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki 3-6 6-4 6-2 in the second round of the Dubai tennis championships.
World number two Novak Djokovic recovered from a set down to defeat fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki 3-6 6-4 6-2 in the second round of the Dubai tennis championships on Wednesday.
The tournament lost fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko who was forced to retire with a wrist injury while trailing German Michael Berrer.
Djokovic struggled to adjust to the afternoon heat, having won a night-time first-round tussle with Spain''s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Monday.
"He (Troicki) was the better player in the first set and a half and I was struggling a lot," Djokovic said at the side of the court. "He was serving well and the balls were going very fast. There''s a big difference playing at night and in the day."
Troicki, 24, took the first set after breaking his childhood friend's serve in the first and ninth games, but Djokovic, 22, responded, dropping only one point on his first serve in the second set.
Having broken Troicki, the 2008 Australian Open winner squandered four set points against serve at 5-3, before squaring the match in the next game with a ferocious forehand winner down the line.
Djokovic raced into a 4-0 final-set lead, eventually clinching victory with a big serve. He will play fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Ivan Ljubicic in Thursday's quarter-finals.
Swollen wrist
Russian Davydenko looked out of sorts against Berrer, losing the first set 6-3, having battled back from a set down on Tuesday to get into the last 16.
"It started yesterday afternoon," said Davydenko. "I was thinking: ''Okay there's pain, but I will recover'. I warmed up (today) and the wrist was feeling okay but the match was different and it started to get swollen."
The world number six is now a doubt for Russia's Davis Cup tie against India in Moscow next week.
Berrer, 29, dominated, breaking his beleaguered opponent in the fourth game after Davydenko had put a backhand smash into the net, and then held serve comfortably to clinch the set.
"I played very aggressive. I played the ball where it came from; he likes to play it from running," said Berrer, who has never made the world top 50.
Berrer will play Marcos Baghdatis in the quarter-finals after the Cypriot defeated Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman 6-3 3-6 6-1.
Austria's Jurgen Melzer beat Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3 7-5 to earn a last-eight clash with Marin Cilic after the world number nine had a routine 6-2 7-6 victory over another Austrian, Stefan Koubek.
Croatian Cilic was rarely at his best, making only 47 percent of first serves, but he appeared confident of progressing beyond the quarter-final stage, having won two tournaments already this year.
"With winning a lot, you are believing in yourself," the 21-year-old told reporters.
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