Novak Djokovic cruises into semi-finals after overpowering David Ferrer – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
Top seed, Novak Djokovic, outgunned the world number five, David Ferrer, in straight sets at the Sony Ericsson Open 2012 on Thursday. He nudged up a 6-2, 7-6(1) victory against the Spaniard to power into the last four at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals)
World Tour Masters 1000 event taking place at Key Biscayne.
The defending champion, Djokovic, brushed off late resilience posed by the Spanish number two to advance into the semi-finals at this hard court tournament held in Miami. Both stars were duelling each other for the 14th time and after earning
this success, the Serb improved to a 8-6 record in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series against Ferrer.
“He’s like a wall on the court. Gets a lot of balls back. He always makes you play an extra shot,” said the Serbian number one in a post-match conference. “So that’s something that I was expecting. He was more than impressive, especially in his last match
against del Potro. I needed to play well and aggressive and step into the court from the first point. That’s what I did.”
Djokovic showed one of his best performances at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park against the Spaniard. He drew the first blood in the third game and jumped to a 3-1 lead. The Serb then held remaining serves without facing any real challenge and capitalised
on another break chance in the seventh game to pull out the opener with a 6-2 win.
The 24-year-old carried his rhythm in the following set and earned the desiderated break in the opening game. Despite losing his edge in the very next game, he cashed in his second break opportunity in the ninth game and was serving for the match in following
game.
However, Ferrer rebounded and snatched his break back in the tenth game. He then held his serve once more and dragged the set to a tie-breaker.
The Serb re-kindled his spark in it and ultimately sealed the set with a 7-6(1) score line.
Overall, Djokovic formulated a lower first serve share of 56 per cent as opposed to the Spaniard’s 63 per cent but brilliantly marked 29 out of 39 points on it. He then mustered the match further by smacking five aces and ending the match with 77 points.
Next in line for the top ranked player in the world is the 21st seed, Juan Monaco from Argentina. He stunned the world number eight, Mardy Fish, with a breadstick to set-up this epic encounter.
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