ATP Monte-Carlo - Novak Djokovic vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov (12:30 BST)

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by Crunch Sports Staff

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Novak Djokovic (credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Novak Djokovic takes on Alexandr Dolgopolov this afternoon in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters (12:30 BST start).

Djokovic, who is chasing his third title of the year this week, started his week with a comfortable 6-1 6-4 second round win over Andreas Seppi, breaking serve three times.

Afterwards he revealed he was satisfied with his start.

"I think I served really well when I needed to," he said.

"That's encouraging for the clay because you don't get to rely on your serves as much as maybe on other surfaces, so it's good to have a couple of free points there.

"I thought I was really focused first set. I played really good. I had a tough opponent, obviously, a quality opponent that plays good on clay. For the first official match [on clay] since Roland Garros last year, it was satisfying."

Dolgopolov will be an interesting challenge for the world No. 1. The Ukrainian is a superb and relentless shot-maker and he got his revenge over Bernard Tomic for his five set loss at the Australian Open in round two, winning 6-2 5-7 6-1.

Djokovic has won their only previous clash in the fourth round of last year's US Open but Dolgopolov pushed the eventual champion all the way in the opening set before losing the tiebreak 16-14.

Prediction: Djokovic in two.

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