Novak Djokovic battles past Thomaz Bellucci to reach final of the Madrid Open
World number two Serb Novak Djokovic survived against world number thirty-six Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci in a three set thriller on Saturday. He registered a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over the Brazilian to advance into the final of
the 2011 Mutua Madrid Open with a perfect winning record of 31-0 this season.
Second seeded Serb displayed top notch performance this season as he is on a 31-0 win loss record so far, levelling with the legend Bjorn Borg. The untouchable has won five titles already and after triumphing over his fellow 23-year-old
Brazilian rival in two hours and ten minutes, Djokovic reached the sixth final of this season.
The Brazilian on the other hand hasn’t had much progress this season so far but showed exceptional skills in this Masters 1000 event. He dumped fourth seeded British Andy Murray and seventh seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in straight
sets on en-route to semis.
Bellucci stormed into the first set and held his opening serve spectacularly to level the scores at 1-1. He then held remaining serves convincingly and broke the Serb’s serve in the fifth game to seal the set by winning six games
to four in forty minutes. The Brazilian produced a lower first serve share of 48 percent as compared to the Serb’s 68 percent. However, he earned an amazing 91 percent win on it.
The flawless Serb re-focused in the second set and held his serve in the first games convincingly. Despite losing an early serve in the third game, Djokovic snatched the break back in the sixth game to tie the scores at 3-3. He
then broke the Brazilian’s serve in the last game to win the equaliser with a 6-4 score line in forty –nine minutes. The Serbian smacked six winners and committed nine unforced errors as opposed to Bellucci’s 14, which made all the difference.
Djokovic raised his level of game in the decider and reeled off first three games in a row through his quick forehands and backhands before Bellucci could hold his serve. The Serb kept his magic and won the remaining games to clinch
the match with a breadstick.
"I always believed throughout the whole match that I could turn it around and I was right," Djokovic said. "He was definitely the better player for a set and a half. He was more aggressive. I just felt quite slow on the court from
the start of the match and it took me a while to really get into the rhythm. But when I did, when I made that crucial break, it was much better."
World number one Rafael Nadal awaits the Serbian star in the final. The top seeded Spaniard is unbeatable on clay for thirty-seven matches and it will be a must watch duel for everyone. Nadal made an epic comeback to win against
the world number three Roger Federer to reach this final spot.
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