Novak Djokovic ousts Tomas Berdych to reach title match – Western & Southern Open 2011
World number 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia moved just one win away from his sixth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title of the season as Czech Tomas Berdych, ranked 9th in the world, retired during their semi-final match at
the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati on Saturday. The Serbian had won the first set 7-5 when his opponent decided to forfeit the match due to a right shoulder injury.
Djokovic and the American held their serve in the first six games of the opening set to take the score to 3-3. Fish broke the Serbian in the seventh game and consolidated on it to grab a 5-3 lead. The top seed fought back, breaking
the American in the tenth game to level the score at 5-5. At this moment, Berdych started to feel pain in his shoulder and faced difficulties in continuing with the match. However, the Czech decided to give it a try. The decision did not pay any dividends
as Djokovic clinched two games in a row, breaking Berdych in the twelfth game to bag the set 7-5.
The Serbian served quite well, delivering four aces and clinching sixteen of the twenty points on the first serve in the first set. While, Berdych hit four aces and sealed seventeen of the 26 first service points. The Czech dropped
most of the points on the second serve, losing ten of the sixteen of them. Djokovic made the difference with his offensive service returns, winning nine of the 26 first return points compared to just four out of 20 by his opponent in the first set. The 24-year-old
saved one of the two break points he faced and utilised two of the four break point opportunities he created in the opening set.
After the match, a jubilant Djokovic said, “It’s great I’m in another final. It's a great achievement. Tomorrow I'll try to get another title. I hope it’s not going to be too hot and let’s hope for another good match.”
The right-handed will take on world number 4 Andy Murray of Great Britain in the final.
The Serbian said, talking of about his opponent in the title match, “We have a good rivalry, same age, same generation and it’s nice to play him in a final again. This is a surface that he plays well on, I think. We played here
finals, two tough sets, and he has won that. So he knows what it takes to win a big match, a big tournament. So there is no favourite tomorrow.”
Murray defeated inform American Mardy Fish in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(8) in the semi-final.
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