Heavy-hearted Djokovic wins in Monte Carlo; Nadal, Murray win too

Djokovic had just finished his third-round match at Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday, hours after learning of his grandfather's death. He skipped the post-match news conference, with the ATP saying he "just felt totally exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally."

Djokovic defeated Dolgopolov 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, winning on his first match point. He reached the quarterfinals along with Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych and Gilles Simon.

Nadal, the seven-time defending champion, followed Djokovic on court and routed Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 6-1. The Spaniard conceded only six points on his serve and broke the Kazakh qualifier five times. Nadal will next face Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka, who defeated eighth-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-3, 6-3.

Third-seeded Andy Murray advanced after Julien Benneteau of France injured his ankle and quit near the end of a tight first set with the score 6-5. He said later he had a fractured right elbow and sprained right ankle.

The top-ranked Djokovic seemed preoccupied as he walked onto center court, his head down. His mind was clearly elsewhere in a first set in which he missed easy volleys, sent drop shots wide and twice lost his serve to the 16th-seeded Dolgopolov.

Djokovic stared at the ground as he sat waiting for the second set. But he broke Dolgopolov early in the second and wayward shot-making gave the Serb time to get his rhythm back. The players left the court early into the third set because of one of the day's several downpours.

After they returned, Djokovic broke the Ukrainian in the ninth game and clinched the victory when Dologopolov sent a return wide. He'll next play Dutchman Robin Haase, who beat Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-2, 6-3.

Tsonga, seeded fourth, stopped 13th-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain 7-6 (7), 6-2 after twice coming off for rain delays. He will play ninth-seeded Simon in an all-French quarterfinal. Simon beat seventh-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-0, 4-6, 6-1.

Benneteau, a former French Open quarterfinalist, caused Murray problems. But while scampering to retrieve a shot from the baseline, he slipped and rolled his ankle. He also hurt his wrist as he tried to break his fall.

"When he went down, he was making quite a lot of noise," Murray said.

After extensive treatment, Benneteau resumed play, but only briefly. Murray next plays sixth-seeded Berdych. The Czech recovered from a shaky first set to beat 12th-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Nishikori lost only two points on his serve in the first set and broke Berdych twice. Berdych has a 3-2 record against Murray, including a straight-sets win in the fourth round of the French Open two years ago.