DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Third-seeded Tomas Berdych had an easy time securing a 6-2, 6-1 win over Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine at the Dubai Championships on Wednesday.
Berdych, who will face fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, has won his last eight matches.
Despite Berdych having trouble with his first serve — his percentage was a ghastly 37 percent — he controlled the match. He lost his serve once, and won 12 of the last 14 points.
“I was working a little more on my return stats than on my service stats,” Berdych said. “The main focus really for the next days is to get my percentage of the first serve back and really find a nice and sweet rhythm for my serve.”
Tsonga won his second-round match by walkover when his opponent, Nikolay Davydenko, withdrew with a rib injury.
Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic upset eighth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-4, 7-6 (4), and seventh-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Andrea Seppi of Italy.
Kohlschreiber will play Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri, who bypassed Somdev Devvarman of India 6-3, 7-5.
Roger Federer played Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic late Wednesday, followed by defending champion Novak Djokovic taking on Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.
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