The Novak Djokovic vs. Roger Federer rivalry will add another chapter to its lore after the soon-to-be top two players in the world won their respective quarterfinal matches at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Friday. Djokovic took care of David Ferrer 6-4, 6-2 to book his semifinal spot before Federer downed Julien Benneteau 7-6(4), 6-0.
Djokovic faced only two break points against Ferrer, both which came as the two-time defending champion attempted to serve out the first set at 5-4. He managed to seal the deal and was off to the races in the second.
“The 10th game of the first set was crucial,” Djokovic explained. “It was crucial to serve the first set out. Obviously, it was a huge relief because it was very physical, especially towards the end of the first set. I served well in important moments. [The] second set was pretty good.”
Federer’s second set was better than pretty good. After battling through a wildly entertaining tiebreaker to begin his match against Benneteau, the 33-year-old Swiss did not lose another game the rest of the way. Federer finished with 11 aces and no double-faults, served at 77 percent, and won 92 percent of his first-serve points.
“I thought I played very well against (Robert) Bautista Agut (in the third round), but maybe tonight was a bit better,” said Federer, who will pass Rafael Nadal for the No. 2 world ranking on Monday. “Especially once I got in the lead, it’s nice to have those great 10, 15 minutes where you can stretch it. That’s what I was able to do. So this probably was my best match so far.”
Saturday will mark the 36th career meeting between Djokovic and Federer. The head-to-head series stands at 18-17 in favor of the 17-time Grand Slam champion. They have split four 2014 encounters at two wins apiece while saving their most memorable showdown for last. In the Wimbledon final, Djokovic survived a spirited charge from Federer to take the title with a 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-4 victory.
The other Shanghai semifinal will pit Feliciano Lopez against Gilles Simon. Lopez is through to his third semifinal at this event following a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Mikhail Youzhny. Simon also needed three sets in his quarterfinal, which saw him rout Tomas Berdych in the decider for a 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-0 win.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.
Topics: David Ferrer, Julien Benneteau, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Shanghai, Shanghai Rolex Masters, Tennis, Tennis News
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