Rome, May 17: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic overcame a poor first set and a smashed racket to beat 14th-seeded Juan Monaco 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 Thursday and reach the Italian Open quarterfinals.
With the wind whipping the red-clay surface into the air, Djokovic struggled with both his serve and backhand in the opening set before settling down and wearing Monaco out as the match progressed.
When Djokovic missed two consecutive backhands to hand Monaco the first set, he slammed his racket to the clay twice, breaking it on the second attempt, which drew a warning from the chair umpire.
The burst of anger appeared to help, though, as Djokovic virtually eliminated errors from his game in the second set and raised his first-serve percentage.
