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Djokovic thumps Seppi as does Fed to Davydenko

Novak Djokovic was in cruise control in Dubai © Getty Images

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Novak Djokovic continued his progress through the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships by completely outclassing Andreas Seppi 6-0 6-3, while Roger Federer conceded one game more in securing his passage against Nikolay Davydenko.

The world No. 1 was pushed harder than expected by Roberto Bautista-Agut in the previous round but there were no such problems against Seppi.

Djokovic set the tone early with a rapid break of serve and he raced through the first set for the loss of only 11 points.

It was not vintage from Djokovic, his service percentage was in the 50s, but he did not need to go through the gears.

Seppi avoided the double bagel and took confidence from winning a game and an ace in the sixth game secured a second hold. But he did not threaten a comeback as Djokovic, his movement across the baseline as good as ever, was able to wrap up the win in a shade over an hour with a brilliant drive volley.

Fourth seed Juan Martin Del Potro is up next for Djokovic in the semi-finals as needed only 62 minutes to claim a 6-4 6-2 win over Daniel Brands.

"I played really well in the second set and I took my chance to break his serve at the end of the first set," Del Potro said. "He made a few mistakes with his forehand and it was a really fast game when he was serving. I tried to be focused on my service game."

Tomas Berdych was also in good form, as he claimed a 6-3 6-2 win over Russian wild card Dmitry Tursunov.

The Czech will now face Roger Federer, after the Swiss eased past Nikolay Davydenko 6-2 6-2 in 54 minutes.

Federer came unstuck at the quarter-final stage in his last tournament in Amsterdam when his serve was broken five times in a straight-sets loss to Julien Benneteau. But against Davydenko his serve consistency formed the bedrock of his win as he offered the Russian no break-point opportunities.

Davydenko's last victory over Federer came on hard court in Doha in 2010 but despite the similar conditions of Dubai, the world No. 46 did not even have a fighter's chance.

Federer broke the Russian as early as the third game and comfortably took the first set. He broke again in the third game of the second as the in-the-mood second seed only looked like erring when he departed from his assured ground stokes and opted for drop shots. Though that was a rare occurrence.

At 3-1 down and on serve in the second, Davydenko had to bare his teeth but soon found himself facing another break point before Federer powered a ground stoke to his backhand which he could turn into the net. The Russian held his next service game but Federer saw himself home in a hurry.

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