Novak Djokovic’s Determination Not To Lose In Cincinnati

Written by: Global Chick on 20th August 2011

Novak Djokovic's Determination Not To Lose In Cincinnati

Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns to Rafael Nadal of Spain during the men's singles final of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 03 July 2011. EPA/KERIM OKTEN |

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic came through in three sets against Gael Monfils after a slow start in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

The Serb keeps improving his win/loss record this season and it now stands at 56-1. His only loss was against Roger Federer in the semi-final of the French Open in May.

The Djokovic vs. Monfils match lasted two hours and 33 minutes. “I had my chances in the first set but didn’t use them. I didn’t step in when I needed to. In the middle of the second set I started to play better,” the Serbian said.

Monfils broke Djokovic’s serve twice in the first set and won the set 6-3. “Nole” started to play better in the second set and claimed it 6-4. Djokovic broke Monfils early in the third set and gave the Frenchman no chance to get back into the match, Novak took the third set 6-3.

Novak’s semi-final opponent is Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. Berdych defeated World No. 3 Roger Federer earlier today in two sets 6-3 7-6 (3). Berdych and Djokovic have played each other seven times and the Serb has only lost once, which was in the semi-final of Wimbledon last year. Their most recent match was in Dubai when Novak won after Berdych had to retire in the third set.

Djokovic is looking to win his sixth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title this season. He is also the reigning Champion at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Bob and Mike Bryan are through to the last four in the doubles event in Cincinnati. The Bryan Brothers won over Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland in two tiebreak sets.

The Bryan duo will face Indian team Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, who advanced to the semis after a walk over from Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek. Berdych, who more than likely wanted to have a rest to be fresh for his singles match tomorrow against Djokovic cited a shoulder injury.

In the bottom half of the draw Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic sailed past the Indo/Pak combination of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam –Ul-Haq Qureshi. The match only last 58 minutes and the score was 6-3 6-2.

Llodra and Zimonjic will face surprise semi-finalists Juan Sebastian Cabal and Florian Mayer. Cabal and Mayer overcame the number eight seeds Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner in the second round. Today they had to work hard against American wildcards Alex Bogomolov Jr and Steve Johnson to reach the semi-final. Cabal and Mayer won 1-6 7-5 10-7.