NEWSPost India

World No. 3 Novak Djokovic set a mouth-watering semi-final clash with No. 2 Roger Federer at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after he handed American Andy Roddick his third defeat of the tournament, 6-2, 6-3, on Friday evening. The other semi-final comprises World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and No. 5 Andy Murray, making it the first time since 2004 that four of the Top 5 players in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings have reached the semi-finals of the season finale.

“I think it’s great for the tournament to see us playing in the semi-final. And then on the other hand Nadal and Murray,” said Djokovic, who saved two match points to defeat Federer in the US Open semi-finals in September. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere. It’s the last tournament of the year, except the Davis Cup final that I’m playing next week. It’s a great achievement that I already reached the semi-final. I will try to give my best tomorrow night.” The 23-year-old Djokovic, who finished second in Group A with a 2-1 record, is chasing his second title at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. He won four of five matches to triumph in Shanghai in 2008 (d. Davydenko in final).

After Nadal’s straight-sets win over Tomas Berdych earlier in the day, Djokovic knew that if he won one set in a completed match with Roddick it would be enough to secure his place in the semi-finals. The Serbian may have begun the match with a practical joke, walking onto court with an eye patch over his right eye in a send-up of the contact lense problems he suffered against Nadal on Wednesday, but when the match started he was all business. Roddick made successive unforced errors off the backhand and forehand sides in the third game and was made to pay the price as Djokovic pounced to establish a 3-1 lead. Djokovic then broke serve once more to seal the first set in 31 minutes as Roddick’s forehand again let him down and landed long.

The eighth-seeded Roddick, who had needed to win in straight sets to reach the semi-finals, could not rein in his unforced errors in the second set as Djokovic continued to dominate. The Serbian broke to lead 3-1, as Roddick double faulted, and quickly went on to clinch victory, prevailing as Roddick committed his 22nd unforced error of the match after 66 minutes. It was Djokovic’s first win over Roddick since the 2008 US Open quarter-finals. Since then he had lost four successive matches to the American, including in the quarter-finals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati this year. “I knew I had to be kind of in a control of the rallies, and I did that,” reflected Djokovic. “I needed to get a lot of returns back. I did that, as well. I was using the forehands quite well. So [I am] just happy with the overall performance. It’s never easy. You got to make these shots. You’ve got to get his serves back in the court and try to win the rallies.”

Roddick, who has endured mixed results this season and battled to secure his place in the season finale after being struck by a mild bout of mononucleosis in the summer, said: “I wanted to keep my streak of eight alive. I was able to do that. Basically I managed a lot of things. I managed to make this tournament. I managed to come out with an okay year in my eyes. “But as far as leaving here with soaring confidence, feeling great about the way I played, probably not. I mean, I played well against Rafa. I played well enough to win that match. The other two were extremely ordinary.”