World No. 4 Novak Djokovic won in a closely fought contest with Fernando Verdasco 7-6(2), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 to book his spot in the semi-finals for the third straight year.
The 22-year-old Djokovic, who could rise to No. 2 in the ATP Rankings if he wins the US-Open and Rafael Nadal loses in the quarter-finals, is one win away from reaching his third Grand Slam final.
The Belgrade native reached his first major final at the 2007 US-Open, where he lost out to Roger Federer, before winning his first Grand Slam crown at the 2008 Australian-Open.
Djokovic also reached the US Open semi-finals last year, following a four-set victory over Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals, but was once again defeated by eventual champion Federer. The two will meet once again in the last four.
Djokovic could not find his best tennis in the first set and it was Verdasco who had chances to take a one-set lead. But the Spaniard could not convert either of the two set points he held on Djokovic’s serve at 4-5 and was made to pay the price as the Serbian went on to win the tie-break 7-2.
Djokovic could not maintain his momentum though as Verdasco immediately hit back with renewed confidence to break serve three times in the second set and level the match by a 6-1 score line.
Verdasco missed a chance to break serve in the second game of the third set and was made to rue his squandered opportunity as Djokovic broke to lead 3-2. The Spaniard was briefly reprieved as he immediately hit back to level at 3-3, but a forehand volley error at 5-5 put him under pressure as Djokovic earned two break points and, although the Serbian was denied on those two chances, when presented with a third he duly converted as Verdasco pushed a forehand long. In contrast to the frustrated Verdasco, a confident and composed Djokovic then closed out the two-set-to-one lead.
The Serbian was quick to capitalise on his momentum early in the fourth set and, after being denied on three break points in the first game, took advantage of more errors borne from frustration by Verdasco in the third game and took a 2-1 lead. The Spaniard failed to recover his composure and, hampered by foot injury also, made a succession of errors to allow Djokovic a second break of serve before the Serbian closed out victory after three hours and five minutes.
The 2009 ATP World Tour season has been a highly consistent one for Djokovic, who leads the tour with 58 match wins this year, and coming into the US Open he had reached at least the quarter-finals in all but two of his 16 events played.
The No. 10-ranked Verdasco was bidding to equal his best Grand Slam result and reach his second major semi-final. The Madrid native made his break through at the Australian Open, where he defeated Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach his first semi-final.
The 25-year-old Verdasco has enjoyed a personal-best season on the Tour, a feat he has credited largely to intensive fitness work done in Las Vegas in the off-season with Agassi’s former trainer Gil Reyes. The left-hander reached the quarter-finals or better at his first eight tournaments and won his first hard-court tournament at New Haven the week before the US Open.
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