Djokovic Continues Doha Dominance

World number one Novak Djokovic has not missed a beat since his outstanding play in the second-half of last year, and early on in 2015 he seems to still be the cream of the crop on the men’s tour.

Djokovic routed Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2, 6-1 in the second-round of the ExxonMobil Open on Wednesday, using a dominant serve to fire five aces and convert 85 percent of his first serves into points. He has lost just six games through his first two matches of the year.

The Serb has not won an opening-season tournament since Brisbane in 2007, and will need to get past big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic if he wants to continue his run in Doha, Qatar this week.

“They key is to try and get as many returns back in play,” said Djokovic of his quarterfinal opponent. “Also, there will probably be some games where he’s going to serve two, three aces. I have to accept that, but these particular matches, when you play somebody that serves that well, one of the best all-time servers in tennis history, then you just need to wait and be patient and hope that you can capitalize on the opportunities when they are presented.”

Karlovic took out the Republic of Georgia’s Nikoloz Bashilashvili 7-6(3), 6-3 to set up the clash with Djokovic.

The third and fourth seeds in Doha had no trouble advancing into the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

The third-seeded Tomas Berdych disposed of Slovenia’s Blaz Kavcic 6-1, 6-2. He converted four of five break point opportunities and has looked extremely sharp through his first two matches of the year. He has a matchup with France’s Richard Gasquet next after Gasquet knocked off Simone Bolelli 6-3, 6-2.

David Ferrer, the fourth-seed, rolled past his Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-2 in just about 78 minutes on Wednesday. He converted 74 percent of his first serves into points and notched five break points.

Ferrer draws a contest with Germany’s Dustin Brown. Just like Ferrer, Brown took out his compatriot, fellow German Jan-Lennard Struff, 7-6(9), 6-4 to advance.

“Brown is unpredictable,” said Ferrer. “He has a good serve and good volleys, so I will have to be very focused all the points. I have to be consistent with my first serve, because my second he will put a lot of pressure.”

A day after upsetting defending champion Rafael Nadal, Germany’s Michael Berrer was eliminated by Ivan Dodig. The Croat pushed his way into the quarters with a 7-6(1), 6-2 straight set victory.

The Brisbane International featured some intriguing matchups on the men’s side headed into Wednesday.

Kei Nishikori, the tournament’s second seed, defeated American Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-5 to move on down under. The match was very evenly played, with the difference coming in the return game as Nishikori notched two break points while Johnson failed to capitalize on both of his break chances.

Nishikori will take on Australian Bernard Tomic in the quarterfinals. Tomic knocked off fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-6(2), 6-1 to continue his good start to 2015.

Fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov had to save two match points to survive and advance versus Jeremy Chardy on Wednesday. The Bulgarian fired 10 aces and needed two hours and 30 minutes to get past Chardy.

Fourth ranked player in the world Stan Wawrinka is in Chennai, India to defend his Chennai Open crown from a year ago. He moved one step closer to that on Wednesday as he cruised past teenager Borna Coric 6-1, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals.

Wawrinka, last year’s Australian Open champion, has now won 11 straight matches in January dating back to last year.