The Djoker's match was no laughing matter today.
A merciless Novak Djokovic spent much of today's Davidoff Swiss Indoors match against Jan Hernych in denial.
Denying Hernych a game, a determined Djokovic delivered an an authoritative annihilation of the 59th-ranked Czech, 6-0, 6-0, to advance to the Basel quarterfinals.
The match lasted a mere 52 minutes and was the biggest beat-down Djokovic has delivered in his career, topping his 6-1, 6-0 win over Argentina's David Nalbandian in the 2008 Queen's Club semifinals in 2008 and a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of Andy Murray in Miami. Djokovic said Hernych contributed to his own demise by committing 40 unforced errors and suggested there is no mercy at this level of the game.
"I've never had one ("a double bagel") before. It's really tough to analyze the match," said Djokovic. "I played enough to win, I had great service games and on his serve I never felt pressure. He didn't put up much of an effort. Anytime you win like this the opponent has to be playing really poorly. I know the crowd wanted him to win the last game, but I felt the need to win every game. There's no room for sympathy, we are professionals."
Djokovic's return game was downright devastating: he won 13 of 21 points played on Hernych's first serve and 13 of 16 points played on his second serve.
The second-seeded Serbian has appeared in 13 semifinals or better in 19 tournaments this season, including four straight semifinals or better. Djokovic will play either sixth-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka or Jarkko Nieminen for a spot in Saturday's semifinals. The 2008 Australian Open champion raised his record to 68-18 on the season, which leads the ATP World Tour for most wins this year.
Russian qualifier Evgeny Korolev defeated Jeremy Chardy, 6-4, 7-6(1), the day after the lanky Frenchman blasted 24 aces past James Blake. Korolev's reward for the win? A quarterfinal date with hometown hero Roger Federer.
In an all-Swiss match up, Federer's good friend, Marco Chiudinelli edged qualifier Michael Lammer, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in two hours, seven minutes. Chiudinelli meets either big-serving John Isner or Richard Gasquet in Friday's quarterfinals. The 40th-ranked Isner, who is the third highest-ranked American man behind Andy Roddick and Sam Querrey, upset third-seeded Fernando Gonzalez in Wednesday night's first round.
Federer, who swept Andreas Seppi on Wednesday, has scored 17 straight wins in his hometown tournament. Federer has enjoyed his brief hiatus by spending time with his four month twin daughters Charlene and Myla.
"I had to save break points today, which I didn’t have to do in the first round, so I thought it was a bit tougher," said Federer, who defeated Olivier Rochus in his opening match Monday. "But I was able to raise my game at a few crucial moments and that was the difference today."
Emily Lewis is a Tennis Week contributing writer.
