Nole is through to his third semi-final in Shanghai!
The second-seeded Serb continued his run of form on Friday as he beat world no.21 German Tommy Haas 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 22 minutes to reach the 2012 Shanghai Rolex Masters last four.
Novak converted his third break point chance in the sixth game and won the first set 6-3 in 42 minutes.
Haas made a break in the second game of the second set, but Djokovic fought back immediately and leveled at 2-all. He broke the German twice more for 5-2 lead. Nole lost his concentration serving for the match. He failed to capitalise on two match points and suffered a break for 5-3. However, he was quickly 40-0 up on Berdych’s serve with three more opportunities to seal the victory. The Serb used his fifth match point and advanced to his 14th semi-final in 2012.
Match statistics: aces (4-2), double faults (2-1), winners (20-15), unforced errors (20-27).
Novak clinched his 68th match win of the season, and now has a 68-11 record (43-4 on hard).
He will face no.4 seed Tomas Berdych on Saturday at 16.30 local time (10.30 CET). The Czech defeated Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6(4).
Djokovic leads their H2H 9-1. The 25-year-old Belgrade native won their last seven encounters, the most recent in Monte Carlo Masters semi-final 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
“It’s always a big challenge when you’re playing a top 10 player, especially somebody who is an established one,” said Novak. “Tomas has been winning against top players on different surfaces in the last couple of years, so he knows how to play on a big stage and he knows how to play in big moments. It’s going to be tough. But I’ve been playing well, too. So I’ll try to look for my chances tomorrow from the baseline and see how it goes.”
Photo: Getty Images
