MONACO (AP) — Top-seeded Novak Djokovic beat Florent Serra of France 6-2, 6-3 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.
Djokovic raced into a 4-0 lead in his first clay-court match of the season, but faltered at times. He faced nine break points overall and lost his serve once in each set. He won on his first match point when Serra's backhand return bounced out.
The second-ranked Serb was runner-up to five-time defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain last year, and he next plays No. 13 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.
Two-time former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, No. 11 David Ferrer of Spain, No. 12 Tommy Robredo of Spain and Wawrinka also advanced in straight sets.
The ninth-seeded Ferrero, Monte Carlo champion in 2002 and 2003, did not face a single break point in his 6-3, 6-4 win over Germany's Benjamin Becker, Ferrer topped Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-2; Robredo beat Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-4, 6-3; and Wawrinka beat Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 6-1, 6-4.
Philipp Petzschner of Germany beat No. 15 Jurgen Melzer of Austria 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Later, Nadal played Thiemo de Bakker and No. 3 Andy Murray faced Philipp Kohlschreiber.
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