Djokavic advances in Cincinnati

Cincinnati - Third-ranked Novak Djokovic defeated fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the three million-dollar ATP Cincinnati Masters.

Djokovic will next face the winner of a later match between big-serving American John Isner and Argentina's David Nalbandian, a winner two weeks ago at Washington, in the last major tuneup event before the US Open starts on August 30.

Djokovic, runner-up at Cincinnati the past two years, was overtaken by 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in the rankings this week. He and the other top-eight seeds enjoyed first-round byes in the hardcourt event.

World number one Rafael Nadal of Spain was set to open later against American Taylor Dent while Federer was to meet Uzbek qualifier Denis Istomin in other later matches.

Round two results:

Novak Djokovic (SER) bt Viktor Troicki (SER) 6-3, 7-5
Julien Benneteau (FRA) bt Stanislas Wawrinka (SWI) 6-4, 6-2
David Ferrer (ESP x10) bt Sam Querrey (USA) 7-5, 6-2
Richard Gasquet (FRA) bt Michael Berrer (GER) 6-4, 6-2