Djokovic prepared for Del Potro fight

NOVAK DJOKOVIC is expecting a battle when he takes on 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro in the pick of the third-round matches at the French Open today.

The second seed is looking to make it 42 matches unbeaten, 40 of them this year, which would leave him only two behind John McEnroe’s record, set in 1984.

Djokovic said: “It’s going to be a great match, a battle. He has always had the quality to be at the top of the men’s game. He plays equally well on any surface, he has a big serve, great groundstrokes. For his height, he moves really well”.

Djokovic had a helping hand making it win number 41 yesterday when opponent Victor Hanescu retired when trailing 6-4 6-1 2-3.

Del Potro has climbed back into the world’s top 30 after missing most of last season with a wrist problem but he was a doubt for the French Open with a hip injury.

The Argentinian acknowledges he is not yet fully fit but he was impressive yesterday in a 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory over Slovakia’s Blaz Kavcic and is hoping to give Djokovic a stern test.

Roger Federer gave French wild card Maxime Teixeira a grand slam lesson, winning 13 games in a row at one stage on his way to a 6-3 6-0 6-2 victory and a third-round date with Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.

The third seed said: “I had to keep my focus to start with because you never know what might happen and what he can produce.”

Seventh seed David Ferrer stayed on course for a quarter-final meeting with Federer by defeating Julien Benneteau 6-3 6-4 6-2. It was another impressive showing from the Spaniard, who has been one of the top performers on both clay and hard courts this season.

Ferrer’s next opponent will be 31st seed Sergiy Stakhovsky, who edged a tight encounter with Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-1 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7/3).

France’s three great hopes were all victorious, with Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet both triumphing in four sets while Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Igor Andreev in four.

Third seed Vera Zvonareva came back from match-point down to defeat ailing German Sabine Lisicki 4-6 7-5 7-5 in the women’s second round.

The Russian, who made the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open last year and reached the last four in

Australia in January, was on the verge of defeat at 2-5 in the decider but she held on before breaking back in the next game.

Last year’s finalists Francesca Schiavone and Samantha Stosur cruised through to round three but world number one Caroline Wozniacki needed almost two hours to grind out a 6-3 7-6 (8/6) victory over near namesake Aleksandra Wozniak.

Defending champion Schiavone dropped only three games against Vesna Dolonts, winning 6-1 6-2, while Stosur defeated Romania’s Simona Halep 6-0 6-2.