Story highlights
Serb Novak Djokovic reaches the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoor event
The world number one defeats Poland's Lukasz Kubot in straight sets
Second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga suffers a surprise defeat in the Valencia Open
World number one Novak Djokovic is through to the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoor event in Basel after taking under an hour to brush aside Poland’s Lukasz Kubot in straight sets.
Playing in his first tournament for six weeks, Djokovic looked to be getting closer to his best form as he claimed a straightforward 6-2 6-4 success against his world no.64 opponent.
Djokovic told reporters: “Today was a really comfortable match. I felt good on court and I’m happy to be playing better.
“This was the goal, I expected that I would struggle with rhythm after not playing for six weeks. But I have no complaints with my game, it was a good performance and I’ll try to do better tomorrow.”
He added: “I’m not 100 percent and to be honest I don’t expect to get there this week, I would be surprised if I did. I only started serving a few days before my first match and I could tell I was lacking rhythm on second serve. But it was getting better today.
Djokovic, who won in Basel in 2009 before losing last year’s final to local favorite Roger Federer, will now face Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis for a semifinal place.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Florian Mayer, ranked 22nd in the world, crushed Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-1 to also secure his last eight spot.
In-form Mayer shocked Rafael Nadal in Shanghai and said: “I’m surprised by this win, but I have so much confidence from beating Nadal. I know on my best game I can defeat anyone in the world.”
In other matches, Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who reached the semifinals in Shanghai, saw off Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3 7-6 (7-4), while Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan beat veteran American James Blake 6-3 6-4.
Meanwhile, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga suffered a surprise defeat in the second round of the Valencia Open, putting his qualification for the ATP World Tour finals in jeopardy.
Second seed Tsonga was beaten 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 by American Sam Querrey, ranked 116th in the world, missing the chance to overtake world number six Tomas Berdych in the ATP Tour rankings.
Three places still remain for the climax to the season in London later this month, and Tsonga will now attempt to secure one of those spots in next week’s Paris Masters – an event he won in 2008.
