Serbia's Novak Djokovic serves the ball to Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Thursday, May 16, 2013 (Photo: AP)
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic improved his clay-court record this season to 8-1 and reached the Italian Open quarterfinals by beating Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 6-4 Thursday.
The only danger Djokovic faced came while serving at 3-2 in the second set. He saved two break points - one with a big serve down the middle and the other with some crisp shot-making that forced Dolgopolov to net a backhand.
The start of the match was delayed for about 30 minutes because of rain.
Djokovic, who opened his clay season by winning the Monte Carlo Masters last month, will next face either sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych or Kevin Anderson of South Africa.
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