Djokovic advances to quarterfinals of Serbia Open

Belgrade, Serbia:

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic beat fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of Serbia Open, the country's first ever ATP Tour event.

The unseeded Tipsarevic gave Djokovic a surprisingly hard time, getting an early break in the second set to force a decider.

But Djokovic, whose family helped bring the tournament to Belgrade this year after buying the license to the ABM Amro Open, dominated the third set as Tipsarevic only won 11 points.

"It was a great match and the atmosphere is great," Djokovic said.

Djokovic will next face another Serb in fifth-seeded Victor Troicki, who beat Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-3, 6-4.

Third-seeded Russian Igor Andreev had to retire with a rib injury when trailing 3-2 against Polish qualifier.

Kristof Vliegen of Belgium also reached the quarterfinals after beating countryman Christophe Rochus 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

In first-round matches, Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, and Brian Dabul of Argentina ousted Chile's Nikolas Massu 6-2, 6-1.