Rome: Top seed Novak Djokovic raced into the Italian Open quarter-finals with a straight sets 6-3, 6-0 victory over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber on Thursday.
The Serb will next take on big-hitting Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, the world No. 9, who won both of his matches Thursday in straight sets.
Afterward, Djokovic noted that neither he nor Del Potro had spent an inordinate amount of time on court and should be in good shape for Friday.
"Of course, he probably prefers because of style of play hard court more. He played equally well throughout his career on clay," the ATP Tour's site quoted Djokovic as saying. "With that serve and forehand, it doesn't really matter what surface you play on. It's quite a weapon that he has."