Djokovic gets past Santoro

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray reached the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday. The second-ranked Nadal beat Mikhail Ledovskikh of Russia 6-4, 6-0, while Djokovic beat Fabrice Santoro of France 6-3, 7-6 (3). Murray defeated Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5).

“I started losing my hair in the second set. But it was OK, you know, to play such a magician with a racket,” Djokovic said.

Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles beat Jordan Kerr and Rogier Wassen 6-4, 6-3 in their first round.

Rastogi wins

Karan Rastogi made a fluent start at the $15,000 ITF Futures tournament in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Rastogi beat Ergun Zorlu of Turkey 6-3, 6-3 before pairing up with Germany’s Alexander Satschko to beat the French pair of Antoine Tassart and Jeremy Blandin 6-3, 4-6, 10-4.