ROME: Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic thrashed Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of the Italian Open ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournament here on Monday.
Djokovic, a four-time Italian Open champion, put on a good performance to earn his sixth win over Dolgopolov in as many career matches, reports Efe.
Former world No. 1 Djokovic started the match strong, winning the first two games to love, and built on this advantage to seal the first set in just 20 minutes.
Dolgopolov tried to fight back against the current world No. 18, creating his only break point at 1-1, but Djokovic served himself out of trouble, broke his rival's serve in the next game and never looked back.
The 2017 Italian Open finalist, who lost to Germany's Alexander Zverev, is set to play either Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia or Italy's Filippo Baldi for a place in the third round.