Top seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic cruised into the quarter-finals of the 450,000-dollar ATP Chennai Open with an easy win over Ivan Dodig on Wednesday. The world number six trounced the 88th-ranked Croat 6-2, 6-4 in 87 minutes on the centre court of the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium in the southern Indian city.
Berdych, a first-timer in Chennai, beaten Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-0, 6-1 in just 45 minutes in Tuesday's opening round. The Czech ace showed no signs of fatigue after taking the court for the second successive day as he broke Dodig twice in the first set and then again in the fifth game of the second set.
"The scores may look like as if the match was easy, but I can tell you no match is ever easy," the 25-year-old said. "One has to play well to make it look easy. "I have had a good start in the tournament, but I am not looking at the semi-final or final yet. My next match is what counts." Berdych will play either Robert Kendrick of the United States or Blaz Kavcic of Slovakia for a place in the semi-finals.