Safin, Djokovic move on in Monte Carlo tennis

MONTE CARLO—Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic set up a potential heavyweight Monte Carlo Masters third round clash against fellow 20-year-old Andy Murray on Tuesday.
Serbian Djokovic, the world number three, who also clinched the Indian Wells Masters this year, saw off experienced Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-3, in his opening clay court match of the season. At the end, the two players, close friends and fellow Monte Carlo residents, embraced at the net and even engaged in a soccer-style bout of shirt-swapping. “Ivan is one of my best friends and we often practice together as well as living near to each other,” said Djokovic who overcame dropping his serve in the first game of the tie.
“It’s never easy to play a friend. That’s probably why I made such a nervous start.” The Serbian will take on 14th seeded Murray if the Briton manages to get past Italy’s Filippo Volandri in his second round encounter.
Djokovic, playing his first match since suffering a shock opening round exit at the Miami Masters four weeks ago, overcame his shabby start and hit back immediately to level at 1-1. He broke again in the eighth game on his way to taking the first set. He quickly opened up a 2-1 lead in the second set before going on to secure victory on his first match point when Ljubicic netted a forehand. After the match, Djokovic was presented with an award for being the best player of the year on tour in 2007.
He also received a picture of himself made out of chocolate. “It’s nice to win the award. I feel like the champion already having received so many prizes.” Meanwhile, Marat Safin’s latest bid to reignite his colourful, rollercoaster career enjoyed a boost with a 6-3, 6-2 first round victory over Belgium’s Xavier Malisse.
Safin, a former world number one and twice a Grand Slam title winner, has seen his world ranking slip to 93 in a year which had yielded just three wins on the tour before this week. But Malisse, who played just seven events in 2007 as a wrist injury sent his ranking slumping to 251, proved the perfect opponent for the Russian in a one-sided encounter.
The 28-year-old Safin, a semi-finalist in 2004, now faces fifth seed David Ferrer of Spain, last weekend’s Valencia champion. Also going through to the second round were Spanish 12th seed Tommy Robredo and Ivo Karlovic, the 15th seeded Croatian.

—Agencies