Novak Djokovic edges closer to unbeaten record at Madrid Open

The world No 2 continues his blistering start to 2011 with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the unseeded South African Kevin Anderson.

Novak Djokovic has now won 28 matches in 2011.

MADRID // Novak Djokovic, the world No 2, continued his blistering start to 2011 with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the unseeded South African Kevin Anderson in the Madrid Open second-round today.

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, said.

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

"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 Rafa 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.

Nadal, the world No 1, begins his quest for a third title on his favoured clay in less than a month against former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis later today.

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