Djokovic ousts Anderson

Madrid - World number two Novak Djokovic continued his blistering start to 2011 with a 6-3 6-4 victory over unseeded South African Kevin Anderson in the Madrid Open second round on Wednesday.

The Australian Open champion has won all 28 matches this season and is closing in on Ivan Lendl's record of 29 victories at the start of the 1989 campaign.

"It's a great honour and very flattering to be part of that elite but it's not my priority," the 23-year-old Serbian, who has won five titles this year, told a news conference.

"I am just taking each match at a time and hoping I can win," he added.

"It's kind of a surprise but I always believed that I have the quality to beat any player.

"I am a more mature player and I have more self-belief which is very important for this level."

Djokovic's last appearance at the clay event in the Spanish capital came in 2009, when he held three match points against Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals before losing 3-6 7-6 7-6 in a contest that lasted a record four hours and three minutes.

Spaniard Nadal, now the world number one, begins his quest for a third title on his favoured clay in less than a month against former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis later on Wednesday.

Roger Federer and Andy Murray, the third and fourth seeds, play Gilles Simon and Feliciano Lopez respectively.

Results on the fourth day of the ATP/WTA Madrid Masters (x denotes seeding):

Men

Second Round

Robin Soderling (SWE x5) bt Santiago Giraldo (COL) 6-3, 6-3

Novak Djokovic (SRB x2) bt Kevin Anderson (RSA) 6-3, 6-4

Tomas Berdych (CZE x7) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP) 6-4, 6-0

Michael Llodra (FRA) bt Flavio Cipolla (ITA) 6-4, 6-2

Thomaz Belluci (BRA) bt Florian Mayer (GER) 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 3-0 retired

Women

Second Round

Li Na (CHN x6) bt Iveta Benesova (CZE) 6-1, 6-4

Roberta Vinci (ITA) bt Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 6-2, 6-2

Third Round

Petra Kvitova (CZE x16) bt Vera Zvonareva (RUS x2) 6-1, 6-4