Serbian top seed Janko Tipsarevic hardly broke a sweat in a clinical 6-1, 6-3 elimination of Indian Wildcard Yuki Bhambri, in the second round of the Chennai Open on Thursday.
In a match that lasted just 62 minutes, Tipsarevic, the world No 9, breezed past Bhambri, who initially appeared overawed but showed spirit in the second set.
Bhambri, who upset Slovakian Karol Beck in the first round to set up his first ever meeting with a top 10 player, was broken in the very first game of the match.
Tipsarevic went on to break Bhambri in games five and seven in the same set. It is a credit to Bhambri's effort in the second set that Tipsarevic broke him only once in the second set, in its fourth game.
Tipsarevic offered support to Bhambri in the aftermath of the defeat.
"He was world No 1 in the juniors, so he has talent and I am sure he'll get better," the Serb said.
About his prospects in the Chennai Open, he quipped,"The last time I was top seed, I won the tournament in Moscow (at the 2011 Kremlin Cup). Let's see what happens this time."
Bhambri, ranked world No 345, tried to match up with his higher-ranked Serbian opponent, but often let himself down with unforced errors. His baseline play let him down.
The Indian wasted an opportunity to break Tipsarevic in the third game of the second set, being 40-30 up before he hit a forehand return long and allowed his opponent to draw level.
Tipsarevic eventually won the game. However, Bhambri did manage to win three games in the second set, including fighting back from being 1-4 down to going 3-5 by the end of the eighth game.
However, Tipsarevic proved too hot to handle for the youngster and wrapped up the tie with a backhand return down the line. Tipsarevic will meet Belgian wildcard entrant, David Goffin, in the quarterfinal of the event. Goffin had earlier upset the higher ranked Andreas Beck in his second round match to enter the last eight.
Sugita, Goffin enter last eight
Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita and wild card entrant David Goffin stormed into the Chennai Open quarter-finals with hard-fought wins against their respective partners.
Sugita got the better of more experienced Yen-Hsun Lu, a 82nd player from Chinese Taipei, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in his second round match while Belgium's Goffin scored a come from behid 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over German Andreas Beck.
The 21-year-old Goffin, who scalped twice champion and his compatriot Xavier Malisse yesterday in the first round, meets top seed and ninth ranked Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in the quarterfinal tomorrow.
