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Cincinnati - Top seed Novak Djokovic cruised through his opening match at the Western & Southern Open on Wednesday while Stan Wawrinka had to come from behind to get by Croatian teenager Borna Coric and secure his spot in the third round.
Djokovic breezed past Frenchman Benoit Paire 7-5, 6-2 to set up a third-round clash with Belgian 13th seed David Goffin but it was a different story for French Open champion Wawrinka who had to dig deep before prevailing 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.
Coric claimed the opening set, cashing in on both of his break point chances but stumbled in the second set tiebreak with his first double fault of the match to give the French Open champion three set points.
Coric couldn't recover and Wawrinka went on to break his opponent to go ahead 4-2 in the third set before clinching the match in two hours and 17 minutes.
"For sure he's playing amazing tennis," said Wawrinka, who will face Croatia's Ivo Karlovic in the next round. "He's really young. It's just the beginning of his career. He's going to be a great player."
In other action, 12th-seed Frenchman Richard Gasquet beat 19-year-old Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-6 (5) 6-2 while South Africa's Kevin Anderson beat American Jack Sock 6-3 7-6 (6).
In the night matches, third seed Andy Murray will battle American Mardy Fish while Spain's Rafa Nadal, the eighth seed, will battle Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.
