By Chris Oddo | Friday, October 31, 2014
Novak Djokovic turned a tense battle into a Parisian promenade on Friday, rolling to a 7-5, 6-2 finish to reach the BNP Paribas Masters semis.
Photo Source: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty
Novak Djokovic turned a tight battle into a Parisian promenade on Friday at the BNP Paribas Masters, taking down Andy Murray for the fourth consecutive time, 7-5, 6-2, to reach the semifinals and increase his grasp on the number one ranking.
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Djokovic has now won nine of ten sets against Murray since falling to the Scot in the 2013 Wimbledon final, but he found himself in quite a tussle in the opener as the red-hot Murray battled him tooth and nail until the final game when Djokovic finally captured the set’s only break on his sixth break of the stanza.
The second set promised to be different as Murray would rally back from triple-break point down to hold for 1-all and break in the next game, but when Djokovic immediately broke back to level at 2-all Murray’s fatigue from having played 23 matches in the last six weeks began to show.
The Scot had entered the match having won 20 of 22 matches which included titles in Shenzhen, Vienna and Valencia, but he didn’t have enough in the tank to keep pushing the world No. 1 on Friday. Djokovic, who was routinely pressuring Murray during the Scot’s service games and broke four times on 13 opportunities, would reel off the final five games to close the victory in one hour and 41 minutes.
Djokovic, who now owns a 15-8 career edge against Murray, moves within two wins of becoming the fifth active ATP player to reach the 600-win plateau with the victory.
Murray, meanwhile, drops to 4-9 against the top ten for the year, and 10-20 vs. reigning No. 1 players lifetime. Still, the Scot has come a long way in the last six weeks, from the cusp of London contention and the top ten to becoming one of the favorites to win in London as well as again threatening to reclaim top five status on tour.
Notes, Numbers. Tweets
Djokovic increases his lead to at least 670 points over Federer for the No. 1 ranking with the win. If he reaches the final his lead will be 890 and if he wins the title it will stretch to 1310. There are 1500 points on offer in London.
Djokovic will face either David Ferrer or Kei Nishikori in the semifinal on Saturday.
Djokovic will bid to reach his 43rd Masters 1000 final on Saturday. He owns a 42-12 record in Masters semis.