Novak Djokovic reaches third round at Rome Masters

Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action against Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic (Not seen) under Rome Masters, officially named as Internazionali BNL d’Italia, on May 13, 2014, Rome, Italy.

Rome, May 14 (IANS) Novak Djokovic returned to full fitness from a right wrist injury and beat Czech veteran Radek Stepanek 6-3, 7-5 in the second round of the Italian Open.

The second-ranked Serb, who showed no signs of pain after withdrawing from last week’s Madrid Open, committed just nine unforced errors to Stepanek’s 27 Tuesday, reports Xinhua.

“It was one of the most difficult conditions I’ve played in, in my life,” said Djokovic.

“Playing when it’s very windy on the court, especially on clay, the clay gets in your eyes. It was very difficult to get any kind of rhythm. Stepanek is a very experienced player, so that’s why I had to be super-focused every game because I knew he had this variety of shots,” he said.

Stanislas Wawrinka put behind the memory of his shock opening-round exit from Madrid to make a thumping start to his Italian Open campaign, beating qualifier Pere Riba 6-0, 6-3.

The third-seeded Wawrinka advanced in just 50 minutes, winning 83 percent of his service points and breaking his Spanish opponent four times.

Fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer also advanced as he dismissed Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 6-2.