Djokovic blasts past Berdych to reach Shanghai finals

The best seats inside the Qizhong arena cost in excess of USD 250 and those that bought their tickets to the first semi-final between Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych must have returned home feeling slightly deceived. The tireless Serbian, who has the most match wins this year under his belt, showed neither remorse nor fatigue in dispatching his Czech opponent to the cleaners in just 86 minutes to reach the finals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters tournament. The world No. 2 struck an impressive 25 winners on his way to a lopsided 6-3, 6-4 victory to edge closer to what might be his maiden title at this ATP World Masters Series tournament.

Even before the afternoon crowd could settle into their seats, the Serbian had already broken his opponent and raced away to a 3-0 lead in the first set. Berdych got a handle on his serve to break the duck, but the sixth game saw the Czech return to errant ways. Serving at 30-15, Berdych offered three consecutive second serves and the Serbian lapped them up to get within a game of wrapping up the set.

Serving for the set, Djokovic offered his opponent a lifeline by serving up a double fault on set point. Uncharacteristically tentative, the Serbian made an error off either flank to keep the set alive. Berdych rode his luck to show some signs of resurgence – a forehand down the line winner threatened to wipe away the one break deficit. But a cross court backhand error from the Czech allowed Djokovic to deuce. The world No. 7 went on to make two straight errors to allow the Serbian to draw the curtains on the set.

Djokovic began the second set on a dominant note, holding at love to 1-1 and reminding his opponent that he wasn’t about to step off the pedal. At 30-15 in the next game, Berdych failed to get his cross court forehand effort across the net and Djokovic grabbed at the inviting opportunity. The Serbian reeled off winners on either side to break serve and go up 2-1, before emphasising his dominance by consolidating at love in the next game.

Berdych held on from there, but the damage had already been done. Djokovic ensured there was no stutter this time round, by holding at love to seal his place in the finals. With the end of the year rankings still in play, the Serbian will be all fired up for the match on Sunday against the winner of the evening’s match between Andy Murray and Roger Federer. “Obviously it’s a big challenge when you play a Top 10 player,” said Djokovic, betraying the ease with which he completed the match. “Tomas is in great form the past couple of months. He’s always a difficult player to play against on any surface because he has a very powerful serve and great forehand. I played tactically right. I was putting a lot of returns into the court, putting a lot of pressure on his serve. On the other hand, I was serving well when I needed to.”

Leander – Mahesh to clash in the finals

Meanwhile sworn rivals, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi set up a mouth-watering clash when they won their semi-finals in contrasting styles to reach the summit clash on Sunday. Bhupathi, who is winding down his partnership with Rohan Bopanna, had to come from behind to eliminate the British duo of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins 6-7(4), 6-3, 10-8. But Paes and his partner Radek Stepanek, who seems energised by his fighting loss to Murray, made light work of Marin Cilic and Marcelo Melo to advance to the finals with a 6-0, 6-2 victory.