Djokovic continues Serbian surge after reaching semis
PARIS: Novak Djokovic continued Serbia's French Open surge yesterday when he defeated Igor Andreev of Russia in straight sets to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal.
The sixth seed won 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in two hours 10 minutes to set up a meeting with two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal who triumphed in all-Spanish quarterfinal against 1998 winner Carlos Moya later yesterday.
The 20-year-old, the youngest player left in the men's draw, will be the fourth Serb to feature in the last four with compatriots Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic already in the semifinals of the women's singles.
Another Serb Nenad Zimonjic has made it into the semifinal in the men's doubles.
Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball to compatriot Carlos Moya at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris yesterday. Nadal won 6-4, 6-3, 6-0. Reuters |
Djokovic is also only the second Serbian man to reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal after Slobodan Zivojinovic who made the last four at the 1985 Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1986.
"I played really well. I wanted to impose my style of play. It's a sport where things can change very quickly," explained Djokovic, who also beat the Russian in their only previous meeting on clay at Estoril this year.
"The score doesn't show the right picture about the match. He was not easy to play. He's the kind of player that makes you work for the points.
"I knew he could be very dangerous. He's a specialist on clay and beat (Andy) Roddick. It was his first quarterfinal and he had nothing to lose."
Andreev has dropped to 125th in the world after missing six months last season following knee surgery.
But despite defeating No 3 seed Roddick in the first round he failed to settle into his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, blaming mental and physical tiredness.
He converted just one of his six break points with Djokovic converting five of his ten.
"Because it was my first experience in a Grand Slam and first time I won four matches in a row it takes a lot physically and mentally. And especially for me since I hadn't played for a long time, it's maybe even harder," he explained.
The Russian paid tribute to the Serb.
"He does everything good. He's defending well. He's serving well on important points. He's a strong guy."
But Djokovic, who has retired from Roland Garros both previous times he played here, faces a tough task if he wants to become the first Serb to reach a Grand Slam final.
He stands 1-3 against semifinal opponent Nadal having lost their two meetings on clay including the quarterfinals here last year when he retired with a back injury when trailing the champion 6-4, 6-4.
The Serb stands 1-1 against Moya. Both ties were on clay with the Spaniard winning their most recent meeting in the Hamburg quarterfinals this year.
Djokovic insisted however that he would take heart from his only win against Nadal, albeit on a hard court surface, on his way to winning his first Masters Series title in Miami this year.
"He's (Nadal) really dominant and the best player in the world on this surface. He has the motivation and confidence and physically and mentally he's prepared more than anyone in this tournament, but I beat him in Miami, where I played probably the best match in my life.
"I won against him once so it can help me in this match."
Nadal moved effortlessly to within two wins of emulating Bjorn Borg's mark of three successive French Open titles when he mercilessly dismissed fellow Spaniard and close friend Carlos Moya in another quarterfinal.
The second seed took his career Roland Garros record to 19 wins in 19 matches with his 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 victory.
It also kept him on course for an eagerly-awaited final clash on Sunday against world No 1 Roger Federer who has his sights on his own slice of history.
Victory for Federer would make him only the third man in history to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time.
The top seed faces Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in the other semifinal on Friday.
AFP
(China Daily 06/07/2007 page24)
