Novak Djokovic topples Tommy Haas in the quarter-finals – Shanghai Rolex Masters 2012
World number two, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, cruised to the last-four stage by beating the former second ranked player, Tommy Haas of Germany, in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
Djokovic and Haas started steadily, as they did not provide each other any break opportunity in the first five games and took the score to 3-2 in favour of the former. The German was up 40-15 on his serve in the sixth one but he
lost two straight points to take it to Deuce. Afterwards, he put away three break threats but could not do the same on the fourth one, going down 2-4. Haas could not bounce back later on and lost the opener 3-6.
The Serbian dominated on his serve, as he banged in three aces and clinched 17 of the 18 points on the first deliveries. The 25-year-old also fared decently on the returns, pocketing eight of the 19 first and five of the 12 second
reply points. The Monte Carlo, Monaco resident did not provide any break chance to his rival and availed two of the three he created.
Haas gave a good response at the start of second set, as he captured opening two games to build a 2-0 lead. However, Djokovic turned around the situation after that, as he broke the German three times and held his serves in between
them to win five back to back, taking a 5-2 lead. Haas pulled one back in the eighth but he lost it again in the following one to go down 3-6.
The Serbian star was near error free on the second returns, as he lost only one point on them in the second set, winning 10 of the 11.
Djokovic said, “I've been winning a lot of matches [recently], so it's something that is always welcome when you want to have confidence, when you want to feel good about yourself on the court. Winning matches is the ultimate goal
for every athlete. My return games were exceptional. So it's something that gave me a lot of confidence today.”
The Serbian will face the fourth seed, Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic, in the semis.
On playing Berdych, Djokovic added, “It’s always a big challenge when you're playing a top 10 player, especially when somebody who is an established one. Tomas has been winning against top players on different surfaces in the last
couple of years.”
The Serbian enjoys a 9-1 lead over his Czech opponent in the head to head series.
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