Saturday, April 18, 2009

Impressive Djokovic Books Semi-final Spot

Serbian Novak Djokovic will look to repeat last year’s ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome final victory over Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in the semi-finals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Saturday.

Third seed Djokovic (pictured) became the first player to reach the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournament just as the rain clouds gathered around the Monte-Carlo Country Club on Friday.

Djokovic battled into his fifth tour-level semi-final (or better) this year with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory over seventh seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain in two hours and 19 minutes. It was the Serbian’s third straight win over Verdasco, who is one of the most improved players on the ATP World Tour circuit in 2009.

“I think every single tournament, every single match is a test,” said Djokovic. “I've said before that the priority on this surface would probably be the physical preparation and physical strength, if you are able to commit yourself to the long rallies, long matches.

“I think today was a really good test, a really good match for me, that I can see if I'm able to do that. That's what I did. I hung in there [and] just waited for my chances.”

Djokovic dropped just 15 points in the first set, which included two service breaks. He won 80 per cent of service points in the 35-minute opener, before World No. 8 Verdasco flickered into life with some strong hitting from the baseline to clinch the second set.

Djokovic said afterwards that he was not surprised by his high standard in the match: "I've been playing quite well in the first two matches, as well. Feeling well in doubles, as well. I had four matches prior to today's quarter-final. [I] got a lot of practice and worked a lot. I just knew that I was feeling the ball quite well. I just needed to repeat that again today."

The 21-year-old Djokovic, who is just 170 points ahead of Andy Murray at No. 3 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking, delivered a strong performance in the deciding set and gained the crucial service break in the sixth game to reach the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters semi-finals for the second successive year. In 2008, he retired citing dizziness in the second set against Roger Federer.

“It's really important to keep the balance and really not think about it too much because then you keep your focus away from something you need to do on the court,” said Djokovic, when asked about the pressure on maintaining his No. 3 ranking. “You need to win every single match you play. You need to believe in that. If you think about rankings: who's going up, who's losing points then you lose your priorities.”

Djokovic improved to 25-8 on the 2009 ATP World Tour season and 3-4 against Top 10 opponents (23-34 lifetime). He has reached two ATP World Tour finals this year, winning his 12th trophy in Dubai (d. Ferrer) and finishing runner-up at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Murray).

Verdasco, 27, was appearing in his fifth tour-level quarter-final (or better) this year. The Madrid native dropped to 17-5 on the season, highlighted by a runner-up finish in Brisbane (l. to Stepanek) and an Australian Open semi-final (l. to Nadal) exit. He also falls to 9-35 lifetime against Top 10 opponents.

Djokovic will next look to extend his 5-2 career record over No. 13 seed Wawrinka, who beat German qualifier Andreas Beck 6-2, 6-4 in 90 minutes to advance to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since Gstaad (l. to Hanescu) in July 2008. Wawrinka clinched his spot on his fourth match point, when Beck double-faulted – having saved two points with aces.

"It was a good match for me," said Wawrinka. "I think one of the best of the tournament. It was not easy to play him because he can play really aggressively. But I was moving very well and I'm very happy with my game."

Looking ahead to his re-match with Djokovic, the Swiss commented: "I'm very pleased to play against him again, this time on clay. I think it's going to be a very physical match. I know he likes to be very aggressive. Back then (in Rome) I didn't believe in my chances. When I came to the final, I already thought my tournament was successful and I didn't believe in my ability to beat him. This is one year later, and everything is different. I have more confidence in myself, and I'll try my best to win."

Beck, currently a career-high No. 85 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, was the first German to reach the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters quarter-finals since 2004, when Rainer Schuettler advanced to the final (l. to Coria). It was the left-hander’s first ATP World Tour quarter-final since June 2008 at Halle (l. to Blake).

World No. 16 Wawrinka, who beat his Beijing Olympic gold medal-winning doubles partner Roger Federer in the third round on Thursday, improved to 10-6 on the 2009 ATP World Tour season. On his two previous appearances in Monte-Carlo, the 24-year-old had lost in the 2006 (l. to Di Mauro) and 2008 (l. to Robredo) first round.

“Sometimes after a big win, you might put pressure on yourself,” said Wawrinka. “But I was aware of that and I tried not to do that.”

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3212.ASP)