In the 2 hours I was out of my place, Djokovic made short work of Mardy Fish. Many had hoped, with his weight loss, that he would be able to give Djokovic a challenge. Fish had been having a career half year. However, Djokovic is often underrated as a talent. If he had been in perfect health, he would be a solid number 3, and perhaps even number 2. Djokovic moves well enough, hits the ball hard enough to be a danger to most everyone.
In this match, Fish and Djokovic had similar number of errors, but Djokovic hit more than twice as many winners and only faced 4 break points losing one, while Djokovic was a very efficient 6 of 8, basically breaking whenever he had the chance.
Final score: 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
Djokovic is not entirely out of the woods. With the heat expected to come back, Djokovic may have to play one of his upcoming matches in heat again. Djokovic caught a break by having his second and third round match in the evening and having the weather cool down the last few days.
In the other match, Monfils steady style, though boring, was enough to beat his countryman, Richard Gasquet. This, too, was a straight sets match: 6-4, 7-5, 7-5. Gasquet was up a break in the second, but was unable to close the deal.
Robin Soderling is currently playing Albert Montanes. Tonight, Jurgen Melzer takes on Roger Federer. Half the quarterfinalists will be determined by the end of the day.
Tomorrow, the other half will be played.
