Sony Ericsson Open: Novak Djokovic vs. Mardy Fish – Semi-final Preview
Second seeded Serb, Novak Djokovic will face 14th seeded American Mardy Fish for the eighth time as the pair meet for their semi-final match at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open at Miami on Friday.
The world number two has a 22-0 perfect winning record this season. He has won all the tournaments he has entered so far including the Australian Open, Dubai Duty free Tennis Tournament and BNP Paribas Open. He entered this tournament
in full confidence and took his revenge from the South African Kevin Anderson, who defeated him last year here, to advance to the semis. Djokovic is looking for a back to back title at Indian Wells and Miami and is on a 24th consecutive win from
last year’s Davis Cup final.
Djokovic currently has a 6-0 lead in his head-to-head series against the American with his last victory coming in a walkover win against Fish at Beijing. Before that he dumped Fish in straight sets at the US Open last year with
a score line of 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. The Serb smacked five aces and had a much better first serve share of 68 percent as compared to American’s 55 percent and he registered an impressive 79 percent win on it. Furthermore he converted six out of eight breakpoint
opportunities to his advantage to win convincingly.
In his last match, Djokovic trashed Anderson in straight sets. He produced six aces, clobbered two double faults and had a convincing first serve share of 66 percent. In addition to this, he earned an amazing 81 percent win on
it. The 23-year-old Serb saved five of five breakpoints superbly, had a plausible return point winning percentage of 45 percent and converted three out of four breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to clinch with a 6-4, 6-2 win.
The 29-year-old American who will be on the other side of net is also in good shape and will take the number one rank in the America’s next rankings. He has a 75 percent winning record for the matches held in last twelve months
and earned two titles. He made a semi-final berth at Memphis and Delray Beach and lost to the Canadian booming star Milos Raonic in his opening match at Indian Wells. In this event he triumphed over French Julien Benneteau, another 17thseeded French
Richard Gasquet and Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro in the pre-quarter rounds. He defeated 6th seeded Spanish David Ferrer in the quarter-final to reach this spot. Fish has yet to lose a set in this tournament.
In his last match against the Spaniard, Fish clobbered two double faults, had a convincing first serve share of 65 percent and earned an exceptional 91 percent win on it. He then saved all the breakpoints and converted three out
of four breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to win the match with a 7-5, 6-2 victory. The American also had an acceptable return point winning percentage of 39 percent.
Djokovic is expected to extend his perfect record as he defeats the world number 15, Fish probably in straight sets.
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